A Florida doctor has been charged in the death of a 70-year-old man who removed the wrong organ during surgery.
44-year-old Dr. Thomas Shakanowski was indicted by a grand jury on charges of second-degree manslaughter in the August 2024 death of a Muscle Shoals, Alabama man, the state attorney’s office for the First Judicial Circuit said.
He was taken into custody in Miramar Beach, Florida, on Monday morning and taken to the Walton County Jail before appearing in court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors allege that on Aug. 21, 2024, during a scheduled laparoscopic splenectomy, Shaknovsky accidentally removed the victim’s liver instead of her spleen. The move resulted in “catastrophic blood loss and patient death on the operating table,” a press release said.
In a phone call, the victim’s widow, Beverly Bryan, recognized her husband, Bill Bryan.
“When I tell people what happened, it still feels terrible to be true,” she said. “I still have trouble believing this happened by myself. Can you imagine?”
After the surgery, the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners filed a court order to temporarily suspend Shakanowski’s medical license. That license was revoked by the Alabama Medical Licensing Commission that same year.
His Florida license was also suspended in 2024, and his New York license was suspended in 2025.
A court order suspending his license said Shaknowski recommended surgery after a 70-year-old patient came to Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast with abdominal pain and imaging “revealed an enlarged spleen and blood in the peritoneum, suspicious for no active bleeding.”
For the next two days, Shakanowski advised the patient, who wanted to return home to Alabama, to undergo surgery, the filing says. On the third day, Shakanowski “continued to pressure” the patient, who then confessed, according to the filing.
Shaknowski continued the operation even after going into cardiac arrest during the operation, according to the filing.
“Dr. Shakanowski removed what he believed to be the spleen, but due to his shock and disorientation, he was unable to properly identify the organ,” the filing states.
After surgery, the doctor said the patient had died of a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm, the filing states.
An autopsy “found no evidence of a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm,” according to the filing. And while the patient’s “spleen and its appendages were intact and in normal condition, her liver was missing,” the filing alleges.
A representative for Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital Emerald Coast did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The filing also accuses Shakanowski of two other incidents of misconduct, one of which the board alleges resulted in the death of another patient.
In that case, the board accused Schaknowski of removing part of a patient’s pancreas during a routine surgery in May 2023, which required the removal of the patient’s left adrenal gland.
The board also accused Shakanowski of causing a gastrointestinal perforation after removing part of the patient’s intestine in another procedure in July 2023. Shortly after the surgery, the patient was transferred to the ICU and died, the filing states.
A representative for the board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2024, Shakanowski settled a malpractice claim related to the May 2023 incident for $400,000, according to Florida Department of Health public records.
In 2025, Beverly Bryan filed a civil complaint against Shakanowski, accusing the surgeon of causing her husband’s death. The outcome of the case was still pending when Shakanowski was taken into custody this week.
“He wants to prevent anyone else from being hurt by his death, which I think will lead to criminal charges,” Beverly Bryan said of her husband. “If we had to suffer through this and he had to die, at least now this man wouldn’t be hurting anyone else.”
Despite the allegations, Shakanowski indicated that “he has never been asked to resign or had any medical staff privileges restricted or revoked within the past 10 years,” according to Florida Department of Health public records.
Shaknovsky could not be reached for comment, and it is unclear whether he has retained an attorney. The state attorney’s office for the First Judicial Circuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to public records, Shakanowski graduated from Midwestern University’s Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2009.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
