Man, 70, dies after Florida surgeon removed liver
instead of spleen: lawyer
A 70-year-old man from Alabama died on the operating table after a surgeon mistakenly removed his liver instead of his spleen, according to the family’s lawyer, who says there’s evidence that this is not the first time the doctor has removed the wrong organ during surgery.
“Every once in a while we get a case where the facts are so egregious and dangerous to the local public that we feel like we should stop what we’re doing and put out a public service announcement,” lawyer Joe Zarzaur said. “This is one of those situations.”
Zarzaur is representing the family of William Bryan, a resident of Muscle Shoals, Ala., who died in a Florida hospital after he was allegedly convinced by Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky to get his spleen removed, only for the surgeon to take out the wrong organ.
Bryan and his wife Beverly were visiting their rental property on Florida’s northern coast when he suddenly began experiencing abdominal pain on the left side, Zarzaur’s law firm wrote in a press release. Bryan was admitted to Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Miramar Beach and was advised to go under the knife for a laparoscopic splenectomy procedure.
The family was “reluctant” to go forward with the surgery in Florida, but they were eventually persuaded by Shaknovsky, a general surgeon, and Dr. Christopher Bacani, the chief medical officer of the hospital. The two doctors convinced the family that Bryan “could experience serious complications if he left the hospital,” the law firm writes.
During the operation on Aug. 21, Shaknovsky removed Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen, according to a surgical pathology report obtained by the family’s lawyer and shared with media outlets. When an autopsy was conducted on Bryan’s body, his spleen was still in his abdomen and his liver was gone.
When Bryan’s liver was removed, the major blood vessels supplying the critically important organ were severed. The 70-year-old bled out on the operating table and died.
After the surgery, Shaknovsky told Bryan’s widow that her husband’s “spleen” was so diseased that it was “four times bigger than usual and had migrated to the other side” of his body, Zarzaur’s law firm writes.
The liver is usually much larger than the spleen and is located in the upper-right portion of the abdominal cavity, while the spleen is in the upper left.
A pathologist at the hospital later realized that the removed organ labelled “spleen” was actually a liver. Dr. Robert Blanchard wrote in his surgical pathology report that the liver was “grossly identifiable” and partly torn, according to the Miami Herald.
During Bryan’s autopsy, after the error was discovered, a medical examiner found a small cyst on the surface of his spleen.
“The spleen had a small cyst on it that had some hemorrhage around it, but it was not a fatal issue,” Zarzaur told USA Today. “It was a fairly routine-looking cyst. It probably would have been very treatable.”
Was there drugs or alcohol involved in this story? Have you ever heard of a spleen moving across an abdomin? This is hardly believable!
There is more on this horror story on Global News at:
Zarzaur says he has also found evidence
Father of Georgia school shooting suspect arrested,
charged with murder
The father of the 14-year-old suspect accused of killing four people on Wednesday during a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., has been arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree murder.
State authorities announced the charges against Colin Gray, 54, on Thursday. He was also charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Officials said on Thursday the charges were laid because the father “knowingly” allowed his son, 14-year-old Colt Gray, to possess the military-style rifle used in the shooting.
“His charges are directly connected to the actions of his son,” said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, during Thursday’s evening news conference.
If convicted on all counts, Colin could face a maximum prison sentence of 180 years.
The charges against Colin are the most severe ever imposed on the parent of a suspected school shooter in the U.S.
Colt was arrested after authorities said he used an AR-15-style rifle to open fire inside Apalachee High School, about an hour’s drive from Atlanta. He has been accused of killing two students and two teachers, as well as injuring nine others.
The teen has been charged with four felony counts of murder and will be tried as an adult. A potential motive is not clear.
Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said the suspect will face additional charges in the coming days.
Prior to Wednesday’s shooting, Colt was already on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s radar.
Investigators said that in 2023, they traced online threats about executing a school shooting to Colt, who denied the allegations. The posts, which authorities said were made to the platform Discord, contained photos of guns.
There is more on this story on Global News at:
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office
‘I even have a lounge’: Star Trek superfan turns Halifax house into a ship
From James T. Kirk all the way to Philippa Georgiou, there have been more than a dozen captains of Star Trek ships but none is likely more attached to their vessel than Capt. Jay Roach.
The Halifax native has created his own Star Trek ship in his home and dubbed it the Star Trek Acadia.
Actually, USS Acadia.
With Star Trek Day approaching on Sunday, he appeared on Global News Morning Halifax to give Paul Brothers a tour of the Acadia.
“It pretty much will do anything you can do on the show,” Roach said. “And if it doesn’t, give me five minutes and I can make it do it.”
In his basement, Roach has what he calls his “engine room,” where he displays his collection as well as has a few TVs.
