An Alabama man reportedly died last month when a Florida hospital mistakenly removed his liver instead of his spleen.
AL.com reported that William Bryan, 70, and his wife were at their rental property in Okaloosa County, Florida, when Bryan suffered pain in his left side. The couple went to Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast, where doctors urged Bryan to have surgery to avoid serious health complications, said Joe Zarzour, the attorney representing Bryan’s widow.
Zarzour claimed Bryan was to undergo a laparoscopic splenectomy on August 21 — but Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky accidentally removed his liver during the procedure. In doing so, Shaknovsky severed a major artery that led Bryan’s sudden blood loss and death.
Though Shaknovsky allegedly listed Bryan’s organ as a spleen, Zarzour said Dr. Robert Blanchard, a surgical pathologist at the hospital, determined it was a liver. Blanchard described it as a “grossly identifiable” liver that was partially torn, the Miami Herald reported.
Following the surgery, Shaknovsky allegedly told Bryan’s wife that Bryan’s spleen was four times bigger than average and had shifted to the other side of his body. However, the family’s lawyers said the spleen — which was not removed — had a small cyst on it, according to the Miami Herald.
Bryan’s widow reportedly plans to file a lawsuit after a pre-litigation process takes place. She is seeking civil and criminal proceedings surrounding her husband’s death.
“My husband died while helpless on the operating room table by Dr. Shaknovsky,” she said in a statement. “I don’t want anyone else to die due to his incompetence at a hospital that should have known or knew he had previously made drastic, life-altering surgical mistakes.”
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[Feature Photo: Zarzour Law]
