Doctor accused of removing wrong organ indicted with manslaughter

Pensacola News Journal
Updated April 13, 2026, 5:40 p.m. CT

A Destin doctor is facing manslaughter charges after he allegedly caused a patient's death by removing the wrong organ during surgery. ... The Office of the State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit announced that a Walton County Grand Jury has returned an indictment charging Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, of Destin, with second-degree manslaughter in the August 2024 death of 70‑year‑old William Bryan of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Bryan and his wife, Beverly, were visiting their rental property in Okaloosa County when Bryan suddenly began experiencing left-sided flank pain, according to the family's law firm. They went to Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital, and he was admitted for further studies pursuant to concern for an abnormality of the spleen.

On August 21, 2024, during what was scheduled to be a laparoscopic splenectomy, Dr. Shaknovsky removed the victim’s liver instead of his spleen, resulting in catastrophic blood loss and the patient’s death on the operating table, a WCSO news release said.

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In September 2024, the Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo ordered an emergency suspension of Shaknovsky’s license, citing Bryan's death and a prior incident in 2023 in which Shaknovsky removed a portion of a different patient's pancreas instead of the adrenal gland and purportedly claimed the adrenal gland had "migrated" to a different part of the body.

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