Overview
- Media published the November deposition transcript that the widow’s attorney shared, giving Thomas Shaknovsky’s first detailed account of the August 2024 procedure.
- In sworn testimony, Shaknovsky said heavy bleeding and an enlarged colon blocked his view as staff did chest compressions, and he removed the liver while searching for the bleed.
- He said he then told a nurse to label the organ as a spleen, and the medical examiner later listed death by bleeding after surgical removal of the liver.
- A Walton County grand jury charged Shaknovsky with second-degree manslaughter, he pleaded not guilty, and a conviction could carry up to 15 years in prison.
- Florida health officials suspended his license and the hospital says he has not worked there since August 2024, highlighting rare criminal and regulatory responses to a surgical error.