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Surgeon Arrested After Fatal Patient Errors
17 Apr
Summary
- A surgeon faces charges in two patient deaths.
- One patient allegedly died after liver removal instead of spleen.
- A lawsuit claims negligence in a prior fatal surgery.
A surgeon, Thomas Shaknovsky, has been arrested, accused of causing the deaths of two patients. Prosecutors allege that in one instance, he mistakenly removed a patient's liver instead of their spleen. This incident occurred approximately one year after another patient, Dorothy Dorsett, died following surgery performed by Shaknovsky.
Weyman Dorsett, Dorothy's son, filed a lawsuit against Shaknovsky and the hospital, alleging negligence. He described his mother's condition deteriorating rapidly after a digestive tract tumor removal on July 27, 2023. She was moved to the ICU on August 2, 2023, and passed away on August 4, 2023.
An investigation by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration later found that Shaknovsky and other physicians failed to use diagnostic testing appropriately and delayed treatment for sepsis in Dorothy Dorsett's case. Shaknovsky was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the death of the second patient, William Bryan.
