Family of dead Alabama man claims surgeon removed wrong organs
The family of William Bryan, an Alabama man, claims he died after his liver was accidentally removed from his body during surgery at a Florida hospital.
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PENSACOLA, Fla. — A Florida doctor has been charged in connection with the August 2024 death of a 70-year-old man whose liver was mistakenly removed instead of his spleen during a medical procedure at a hospital, authorities announced.
Dr. Thomas Shakunowski, 44, was indicted by a grand jury in Walton County, Florida, on Monday, April 13, on charges of second-degree manslaughter, according to the county sheriff’s office and the First Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office. He was arrested on the morning of April 13 and later released on $75,000 bail, according to online inmate records.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that the grand jury indictment relates to Shakunowski and “the operating room death of an Alabama man.” William Bryan, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and his wife, Beverly, were visiting a rental property in Okaloosa County when Bryan suddenly started feeling pain in the left side of his abdomen, according to the family’s attorney.
They visited Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Walton County, where he was admitted for further studies due to concerns about an abnormality in his spleen. The sheriff’s office said Shakunowski removed William Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen during a scheduled laparoscopic splenectomy, “resulting in catastrophic blood loss and death of the patient on the operating table.”
The grand jury indictment follows an extensive investigation conducted by the sheriff’s office, the First Judicial Circuit State’s Attorney’s Office, other state agencies and medical authorities, according to a news release. The sheriff’s office said the jury found probable cause “to charge that the actions that took place in the operating room constituted a criminal act” under state law.
“Our duty is to follow the facts wherever they lead, without fear or favor,” Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said in a statement. “The grand jury has rendered its verdict, and our responsibility is to ensure that charges are pursued through the appropriate legal process. Our thoughts remain with the victims’ families and their indescribable loss.”
The coroner discovered during the autopsy that William Bryan still had a spleen in his body.
The Pensacola law firm Zarzaul Law Pennsylvania is filing a civil lawsuit on behalf of William Bryan’s family, alleging wrongful death, medical malpractice and personal injury.
William Bryan began suffering from “severe abdominal pain” while on vacation with his wife in August 2024, said Joe Zarzaul, a lawyer for the Bryan family. Dr. Shakunofsky, who was a surgeon at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital at the time, diagnosed William Bryan with a hemoperitoneal injury and splenic injury, or splenic hemorrhage, the surgical report states.
Zarzaul said William Bryan initially chose to wait for surgery until he returned home to Alabama, but Beverly Bryan said Shakunowski told her husband that he would die from blood loss if he traveled in his condition. The investigative report said Shakunowski performed the surgery after discussing “risks, benefits and alternatives” with the couple.
William Bryan died from massive blood loss after his “large” spleen was removed during surgery on August 21, 2024, according to a surgical report. After the surgery, pathologists realized that the removed organ labeled “spleen” was actually liver tissue, Zarzaul said.
After an autopsy was performed, the medical examiner determined that William Bryan’s liver had been removed and that his spleen remained in his body with a cyst attached to it, Zarzaul said.
“There was a small cyst in the spleen and some bleeding around it, but it was not a fatal problem,” Zarzaul said. “It was a fairly routine cyst. It was probably very treatable.”
Thomas Shakunowski involved in 2023 surgical accident
In September 2024, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo ordered an emergency suspension of Shakunowski’s license. Ladapo cited the death of William Bryan and a previous incident in 2023 in which Schachnofsky removed part of another patient’s pancreas instead of the adrenal glands, which he claimed had been “migrated” to another part of the body.
Zarzaul said the 2023 lawsuit was settled and no lawsuit was filed against the surgeon or Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital. State records show Shakunowski paid $400,000 in a medical malpractice claim settlement in 2024.
“This matter was swept under the rug,” Zarzaul said while announcing the lawsuit at a press conference in September 2024. This is what happened after that.
The Florida Department of Health lists Shakunowski’s current medical license status as “retired.” The department defines retired status as a licensed practitioner who “is no longer practicing in the State of Florida but maintains retired license status.”
According to the state Department of Health, “licensed medical practitioners are not authorized to practice in Florida.” “Practitioners are under no obligation to update their profile data.”
Contributor: Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY
