Florida Surgeon Indicted for Manslaughter After Allegedly Removing Patient’s Liver Instead of Spleen
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A Walton County, Florida, grand jury has indicted Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, a 44‑year‑old osteopathic physician, on a second‑degree manslaughter charge after prosecutors say he removed a patient’s liver instead of the spleen during a 2024 operation at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Miramar Beach. The victim, identified as 70‑year‑old Bill Bryan of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, underwent what began as a scheduled laparoscopic splenectomy that was converted to an open procedure amid uncontrolled hemorrhage and a burst megacolon. Court filings and witness accounts reported that Shaknovsky admitted he “blindly” fired a stapling device at an organ he could not identify; what was removed was later determined to be the liver. He is being held in Walton County Jail on $75,000 bond and, if convicted, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years under Florida law.