Florida surgeon who removed wrong organ says he is ‘forever traumatized’ by patient’s death
By Matt Lavietes
Published on May 7, 2026.
Florida surgeon Thomas Shaknovsky removed the wrong organ in 2024, causing the death of his patient, William Bryan, on the operating table. The error led to a lawsuit filed by Bryan's widow, Beverly Bryan, and a grand jury indicted Shaknov on a manslaughter charge. He has pleaded not guilty. A deposition given in November as part of the lawsuit offers his first detailed account of the operation. He said unusual factors such as blood in Bryan's abdomen and an enlarged colon prevented him from seeing other organs. While trying to get a better view as the operation was underway, Bryan started bleeding profusely, causing his heart to stop. As the operating room team tried to find the source of the bleeding, Shaknovich accidentally removed Bryan's liver rather than his spleen. He instructed a nurse to label the organ he removed as a spleen, which typically weighs less than 15% of a liver.
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Florida surgeon who removed wrong organ says he is ‘forever traumatized’ by patient’s death
Florida surgeon Thomas Shaknovsky, charged with manslaughter after removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen, described his distress and loss of a patient's life.