A woman is claiming a Florida surgeon who operated on her husband caused his death when the doctor removed his liver instead of his spleen.
According to Florida law, a pre-suit process — which may include convening with a panel that includes an attorney, health care provider, and a claims adjuster — must occur before filing a lawsuit. However, Zarzaur Law. which is representing Beverly Bryan in this case, has shared Operative Documentation and the Surgical Pathology Report, the latter of which confirms that the liver was indeed removed, but does not confirm it was done in error.
Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital told PEOPLE they’re taking the allegations “very seriously.”
Muscle Shoals, Ala., residents William Bryan and his wife Beverly were visiting Okaloosa County, Fla., when he sought medical care Aug. 18 for “severe abdominal pain,”according to the Operative Documentation shared by Zarzaur Law.
According to the report, while at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital, Bryan, 70, was told he needed surgery; he then “refused surgical intervention and stated that he wished to be discharged home to travel back to Alabama.”
William and Beverly Bryan.
Courtesy Zarzaur Law
According to the Operative Documentation shared with PEOPLE, the hospital “discussed his case at length and explained to the patient that he is not cleared for discharge… Discussed the fact that should he wish to leave the hospital it would be against medical advice at this time. Patient elected to stay in the hospital. On hospital day 2 surgical intervention was recommended.”
Bryan was admitted for “intra-abdominal hemorrhage associated with splenic artery aneurysm rupture” and “cardiac arrest,” according to the Operative Documentation — which is the detailed account of a patient’s treatment — Zarzaur Law shared.
However, “Patient verbalized understanding and continue to refuse surgical intervention,” the documents state. “Patient wished to be discharged home and follow-up with his regular doctor in Alabama.”
The report goes on to say that the “case was discussed with the patient and his wife at length preoperatively” until they agreed to proceed with surgery.
According to the documents, Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky was expected to perform a “laparoscopic hand-assisted splenectomy,” and that during the surgery, “the entire spleen was exposed noted to be severely deformed.”
It was at this point, due to the “large size of the spleen we elected to convert to open procedure,” the documents state.
The Cleveland Clinic defines the spleen as “a small organ inside your left rib cage, just above the stomach. It’s part of the lymphatic system.”
The liver “is a large organ in the abdomen,” according to the Cleveland Clinic, which adds “Under normal conditions, the liver is located on the right side of the body.”
Stock image of an operating room.
Getty
During the procedure, “due to extensive blood loss at the time of aneurysmal rupture patient’s blood pressure decreased abruptly and patient decompensated into cardiac arrest.”
But according to a surgical pathology report Zarzaur Law shared with PEOPLE, it wasn’t the deformed spleen, but Bryan’s liver, that had been removed.
“Received in [the preservative solution] formalin labeled with the patient’s name and ‘spleen’, Is a grossly identifiable 2,106 g liver,” the surgical pathology report says.
Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital told PEOPLE in a statement, “We take allegations like this very seriously, and our leadership team is performing a thorough investigation into this event.”
“Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast has a longstanding history of providing safe, quality care since the hospital opened its doors in 2003. Patient safety is and remains our number one priority. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family. We hold the privacy of our patients in the highest regard. We do not comment on specific patient cases or active litigation.”
As Beverly Bryan said via her lawyer, “My husband died while helpless on the operating room table by Dr. Shaknovsky.”
