A doctor in Florida has offered a shocking excuse after removing the wrong organ from a patient – leaving him dead on the operating table.
Thomas Shakanowski accidentally euthanizes 70-year-old patient William Brian’s liver collapses, triggering catastrophic bleeding.
Intending to remove Brian’s spleen, the surgeon admitted that he “couldn’t tell the difference” because he was “so nervous” during the chaotic procedure.
The 44-year-old made the surprise statement while being questioned by lawyers representing Brian’s widow.
He has since been criminally charged and faces a malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit for the fatal mistake.
“I can’t explain to you what it’s like for a surgeon to lose a patient on the table and how demoralizing and how devastating that is,” Shakanowski said.
“It’s a devastating thing that I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life,” he said.
“And I think about it every day.”
Brian’s widow, Beverly, said the couple were visiting Florida when her husband suddenly began having severe stomach pains.
At the hospital, Shakanowski and another doctor persuade Brian to undergo surgery due to an abnormality in his spleen.
court The surgeon instead removed Brian’s liver — causing “immediate and catastrophic blood loss resulting in death,” the filing claims.
The lawsuit further alleges that the organ was mislabeled, with the error only being uncovered after Brian’s death.
Shakanowski reportedly tried to explain her mistake to Beverly by telling her that her husband had a diseased spleen, which was four times its normal size and had somehow moved to the opposite side of the body.
He also said that the procedure was plagued with complications that made the surgery both difficult and dangerous.
After the procedure, Shakanowski was stripped of his medical license.
Last month, Shakanowski was arrested while working a shift as a Lyft driver and charged with second-degree murder.
Investigators allege that the disgraced surgeon made several fatal mistakes during the operation.
This included switching from laparoscopic surgery to a much riskier open procedure because visibility was poor.
He then allegedly clipped and stapled the blood vessels around Brian’s liver, causing massive bleeding and causing the patient to go into cardiac arrest.
Despite the unfolding emergency, investigators say Shakanowski also failed to call for backup.
If found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
Shakanowski said, “That was an incredibly unfortunate incident that I deeply regret, and I am forever scarred and scarred by it.”
