Thomas Shaknovsky botched the surgery of William Bryan, 70, who died on the operating table

Thomas Shaknovsky botched the surgery of William Bryan, 70, who died on the operating table

According to Shaknovksy’s deposition, after removing Bryan’s liver, the surgeon instructed a nurse to label the organ as a “spleen” – and he also identified it as a spleen in Bryan’s postoperative notes. Shaknovsky later said he had been “mentally compromised” at the time of Bryan’s death, explaining that he was “devastated, demoralized, crying over his passing, felt that I failed him”.

  • Kirp123@lemmy.worldEnglish
    112·
    9 hours ago

    Reading the report that was posted last time this was discussed it was equally the fault of the hospital as it was the doctors. Apparently he had a bunch of botched surgeries before this one, he was sent to a Continuing Medical Education (CME) program where he failed his evaluation, and he was allowed to take it again after the hospital intervened and he came back to work.

    The hospital had reporting systems that nurses and tech were supposed to use to report issues such as these, nobody did even though after they were interviewed they said they had concerns about that specific doctor such as him being late to scheduled operations and other issues. Some nurses stated that they would not bring family to the hospital if they knew that specific doctor was on rotation. The operation where he killed this guy also started late in the afternoon and the doctor didn’t perform a splenectomy before this one.

    The operation report was also quite surreal. Apparently they started the surgery laparoscopically but then the doctor decided to convert it into a normal surgery because he couldn’t see properly. Once they opened the guy the nurses noticed that he had an enlarged colon that was blocking most of the surgical field and this was not mentioned in the post-op report even once. Then the doctor started cutting and caused a hemorrhage that made what visibility there was even worse. He continued the operation and removed what he called the spleen. Most of the operating tech immediately noticed it wasn’t the spleen since even an enlarged spleen doesn’t usually get over 800 grams. The thing he pulled out was almost 2 kilograms. Also apparently a different surgeon walked into the room and pointed at the organ on the table and asked what that is. The doctor said: “It’s the spleen.” to which the other surgeon retorted: “That’s no fucking spleen” before storming out. Then they sent it to a pathologist which said that he didn’t even need to put it under the microscope to see that it wasn’t a spleen.

    The coroner that did the autopsy of the dead man stated that the spleen was untouched in the place where it should be but the liver has been surgically resected with the surgeon cutting through the portal vein without any evidence of clamping.

    Edit: Here is the report if anyone wants to look through it themselves.

    https://zarzaurlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AHCA-Report-1.pdf

    • VitoRobles@lemmy.todayEnglish
      26·
      10 hours ago

      The hospital had reporting systems that nurses and tech were supposed to use to report issues such as these, nobody did

      Retaliation is very real in the medical system.

      I gave family in the medical industry. They frequently share how hospitals protect expensive doctors/specialists.

      • lightnsfw@reddthat.comEnglish
        11·
        9 hours ago

        Yeah I did technical support for a hospital and everyone was terrified of pissing doctors off because you absolutely would be sided against if they complained about you. I can’t imagine how much worse that situation is for the nurses that had to work with them every day.

    • rozodru@piefed.worldEnglish
      52·
      12 hours ago

      why was the hospital protecting this guy so much? The fact that Nurses would prevent family members from going to the hospital if this guy was on rotation is telling. He must have a shit ton of info on board members or something.

      • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.caEnglish
        3·
        3 hours ago

        why was the hospital protecting this guy so much?

        Because lawyers will now look into his history and the lawsuits will be huge.

      • Seleni@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        5 hours ago

        Nah, this is normal in the medical world. You think the Thin Blue Line is bad, you should see doctors cover each other’s shit. It’s one of the reasons their insurance is so high.

      • Kirp123@lemmy.worldEnglish
        18·
        9 hours ago

        Honestly no idea. This is his previous history with botched surgery, and the actions taken by the hospital, quoted from the report:

        From May 2023 to August 2023, the hospital identified a total of 3 surgical errors. All 3 errors involved Surgeon A (this is the guy in the news story).

        In May 2023, Surgeon A removed part of a patient’s pancreas instead of the intended adrenal gland. Surgeon A had not performed adrenalectomies at the facility. Corrective actions included to immediately stop scheduling adrenalectomies, counseling surgeons on the use of surgical markers and proctoring at least 5 cases. Proctoring was not competed because the hospital no longer performs adrenalectomies.

        In August 2023, a patient was identified to have a bowel perforation following a partial colectomy performed by Surgeon A. Patient died from infection complications. Corrective actions included referral to the Credentialing committee for potential actions. However, per Credentialing Manager interview, this is not one of the Credentialing committee functions.

        In August 2024, Surgeon A performed a splenectomy on Patient #1(this is the one from the news story). Surgeon A removed the patient’s liver instead, resulting in hemorrhage and death. Surgeon A had not performed a splenectormy at this hospital in over 3 years, since July 2021. The Hospital suspended Surgeon A’s privileges and initiated an investigation.

        Interviews with 8 sampled operating room staff found 6 staff with concerns regarding surgical practices by Surgeon A. These concerns were reported to the Operating Room Manager and/or Operating Room Director, but no further action was initiated. Staff interviews identified 2 additional patients with possible surgical errors by Surgeon A that had not been investigated. Surgeon A was observed to sever the common bile duct on a Patient during a Cholecystectomy in April 2024 and sever a ureter on another Patient during a partial colectomy in July 2024 resulting in an Urologist being called to the operating room for repairs during the surgery of that Patient.

        Quotes taken from: https://zarzaurlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AHCA-Report-1.pdf starting on page 19.