Florida Doctor Charged After Fatal Wrong-Organ Surgery
A Florida doctor is facing charges of second-degree manslaughter after a fatal surgery in which he allegedly removed a patient’s liver instead of the spleen.
Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, was arrested Monday following a two-year investigation into the August 2024 death of a 70-year-old Alabama man, according to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office. The investigation involved local and state law enforcement working with medical authorities, and it ended with a grand jury indictment. Shaknovsky is being held at the Walton County Jail on a $75,000 bond, according to correction records.
His case has been followed closely by licensing agencies in multiple states. Shaknovsky, who is licensed to practice medicine in Florida, Alabama and New York, had his medical licenses suspended or turned in before the recent arrest. Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said, in a statement, that “The Grand Jury has spoken, and our responsibility is to ensure the charges are carried out through the proper legal process.”
The patient arrived at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach with abdominal pain on Aug. 18, 2024. Dr. Shaknovsky recommended surgery, and Florida health officials later described the decision as one the patient initially resisted. At first, the man refused an operation and wanted to go home. Eventually—under pressure, officials said—he agreed to a laparoscopic splenectomy. The procedure was scheduled late in the day on Aug. 21, 2024, after 5 p.m., a detail that became part of the scrutiny, with operating room staff reportedly raising concerns that they only had a skeletal crew.
In the emergency application used to seek a license suspension, staff also flagged Shaknovsky’s lack of experience and skills in the emergency department. Documents read that operating room staff “knew splenectomies were complicated procedures that could quickly deteriorate and were not regularly performed at Ascension.” The application also states that Shaknovsky started a laparoscopic procedure but then converted to an open operation without properly documenting the reasons for doing so.
During surgery, the patient began to hemorrhage and his vitals dropped, prompting an emergency code call. In describing the moment, Shaknovsky told officials after the operation that he tried to control the bleeding. He claimed he “blindly” fired a stapling device into the abdomen, removing an organ he presumed to be the spleen—though he later admitted he was unable to properly identify it due to shock and chaos. In his account, the spleen was reportedly grossly enlarged and the liver unusually positioned, which he said contributed to the misidentification. One witness described the atmosphere in the operating room as unsettled; someone said it was “that’s scary” as Shaknovsky identified what he intended to cut.
Accounts from operating room witnesses, however, paint a more chaotic picture and include allegations that essential steps were missed. The emergency application says that when the abdomen was opened, a megacolon allegedly burst, obstructing visibility. As staff attempted to clear the field, Shaknovsky is said to have identified a pulsing vessel, stapled it, and continued dissecting even as the abdomen was “full of blood,” without requesting essential tools like a clamp or cauterizer. Ultimately, the application says, he removed what he identified as the liver—describing it as the spleen, an organ distinct in size, color, and location.
Despite resuscitation efforts, the patient was pronounced dead. Shaknovsky informed staff that the cause was a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm and insisted that the removed organ be labeled as a “spleen” for pathology. But the medical examiner found no evidence of a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm.
Shaknovsky denies wrongdoing, and the emergency application says he argued the organs presented with abnormal anatomy or had “migrated” to an unusual location. His broader record is also central to how officials have treated his medical status: applications to suspend or revoke his licenses document multiple incidents.
Just two months before the fatal surgery, Florida health officials described another error that they said led to patient harm. In that case, Dr. Shaknovsky allegedly removed a portion of a patient’s pancreas instead of the adrenal gland during an adrenalectomy. Officials said the patient suffered permanent harm after Shaknovsky later claimed the adrenal gland had “migrated.” The Florida Department of Health suspended his license in September 2024, according to public records.
In Alabama, the case traces back to complaints from the wife of the man who died in 2024. The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners filed a complaint and temporarily suspended his license, saying he “may constitute an immediate danger to his patients and the public.” He surrendered his license on Nov. 7, 2024, according to Alabama’s medical license records. That application also described two prior operating mistakes in 2023, including one case in which a patient later died after what documents characterized as a bowel resection that resulted in a perforation, following a scheduled ileostomy.
His New York State license, held since 2015, was suspended in 2025. Shaknovsky did not respond to a request for comment.
In the operating room after a decision like this, everything is supposed to be controlled—lights, timing, tools—and when it isn’t, the consequences can be brutal. What happens next is for the courts, but the details already laid out in charging documents and medical filings show how quickly a surgical plan can unravel into something nobody can undo.
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