A Florida doctor accused of killing a patient by removing the wrong organ during surgery was arrested mid-ride while working as a Lyft driver.
On April 13, Walton County Sheriff's officers pulled over Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, at a major intersection in Miramar Beach, Florida, and stopped his Mitsubishi SUV with weapons drawn.
Walton County prosecutors accused Shaknovsky of second-degree manslaughter, claiming that a planned laparoscopic splenectomy at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast resulted in the death of William Bryan, a 70-year-old Navy veteran from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in 2024. He allegedly removed Bryan's liver instead of his spleen. Bryan died of catastrophic, fatal blood loss.
The Worst Surgeon in America
— Desiree (@DesireeAmerica4) April 15, 2026
A Florida doctor was just indicted for manslaughter after ripping out a patient's liver instead of his spleen, killing him on the operating table.
How do you confuse a massive liver on the right side of the body with a tiny spleen on the left? He… pic.twitter.com/LdZ5AQXUtn
Over the sound of sirens, a visibly puzzled Shaknovsky informed the deputies that he had passengers in the backseat. "May I ask what this is about?" he politely asked, according to NBC. A deputy's response was short and brutal: a manslaughter charge.
The two women in the backseat were vacationers who had been picked up at their hotel. One of them, shaking, told authorities that she felt they were being robbed at gunpoint when officers rushed into their car.
"We're not using Lyft again," one of the passengers joked. "From now on, we're using Uber."
And things kept getting more bizarre. Using his middle name, Jacob, on his profile, Shaknovsky had been a driver for the ride-sharing service for over a year, giving over 3,000 rides with a five-star rating.
The details of the surgery room are horrifying. Due to inadequate visibility in Bryan's colon and abdomen, Shaknovsky allegedly changed the hopeless surgery into a hazardous open procedure. Bryan went into cardiac arrest after he severed and stapled clumps of veins surrounding the liver, causing significant bleeding. The rest of the staff rushed to revive the patient, but Shaknovsky pressed on.
When he removed Bryan's 4.6-pound liver, which he recognized as a spleen, he did not call for help. In a legal complaint, Bryan's wife claimed that after being questioned by hospital officials, Shaknovsky consistently maintained that the removed organ was the spleen.
MORE DETAILS!! SURGEON LIED AND SAID PATIENT HAD AN ANEURYSM, BUT HE CUT THE SUPERIOR VENA CAVA! STAFF HORRIFIED!
— Victor Bigham ?? (@Ravious101) April 15, 2026
A Florida surgeon is facing criminal charges following a catastrophic surgical error that authorities say led to the death of a vacationing patient.
William Bryan,… pic.twitter.com/OP59q5X2Mj
His osteopathic license was suspended by an emergency order issued by Florida officials in September 2024, citing a wrong-site hernia surgery in 2024 and another claimed surgical error in 2023. His New York license was suspended in 2025.
Shaknovsky will be arraigned on May 19 after being freed on a $75,000 bond. If found guilty, he may spend up to 15 years in jail. Lyft withdrew Shaknovsky from its platform as soon as it learned of the arrest and contacted the passenger to offer assistance.
Why a physician under increasing regulatory scrutiny was permitted to continue practicing even after suspension remains a question that is yet to be answered.
