{"id":239904,"date":"2026-04-21T04:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T04:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/239904\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T04:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T04:09:09","slug":"florida-surgeon-who-was-arrested-in-organ-error-also-scrutinized-in-earlier-patient-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/239904\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida surgeon who was arrested in organ error also scrutinized in earlier patient death"},"content":{"rendered":"

An NBC News report<\/a> details additional allegations against a Northeast Florida surgeon already criminally charged in a high-profile fatal mistake.<\/p>\n

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky was arrested April 14 in Walton County on a manslaughter change in the August 2024 death of 70-year-old William Bryan. A grand jury indicted Shaknovsky after prosecutors alleged he removed the wrong organ during surgery.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A grand jury indicted Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky after an investigation found a patient died when the wrong organ was removed during surgery. <\/p>\n

Shaknovsky, 44, pleaded not guilty and was released from jail on $75,000 bond.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Northeast Florida surgeon faces manslaughter charge, accused of removing wrong organ in 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

According to NBC News, Shaknovsky also operated on Dorothy Dorsett, 76, a Miramar Beach resident who died on Aug. 4, 2023, following complications from surgery to remove a tumor.<\/p>\n

Both procedures were performed at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach, where Destin-based Shaknovsky had surgical privileges.<\/p>\n

NBC News spoke with Dorsett\u2019s son, Weyman Dorsett, who said he sensed something was wrong almost immediately after his mother\u2019s procedure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget \u2026 the look on that doctor\u2019s face,\u201d he said, describing an intensive care physician reviewing her chart and \u201cshaking his head, like, \u2018What in the living hell is going on?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

After the tumor was removed from her digestive tract, Dorothy Dorsett’s condition quickly deteriorated, according to a lawsuit cited by NBC News. She struggled to eat, developed a rapid heartbeat and was eventually moved to intensive care.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe just started really spiraling, pain,\u201d her son said. \u201cShe was not my mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dorothy<\/p>\n

Dorothy Dorsett died in August 2023, days after surgery to remove a tumor in her digestive tract. <\/p>\n

Dorsett\u2019s family had concerns about Shaknovsky before the procedure. Weyman Dorsett described the osteopathic physician as \u201codd,\u201d recalling that he prayed at the bedside in a way that felt \u201cway over the top\u201d and \u201cvery insincere.\u201d He said his mother also found the doctor \u201cvery weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being told the surgery \u201cwent great,\u201d Dorsett said his mother\u2019s health declined sharply. He recalled being called back to the hospital, where his mother told him she believed she was going to die. He said he then \u201chad to sit there and watch her die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida regulators did not take immediate public action following Dorsett\u2019s death but later reviewed her case as part of a broader investigation into the Bryan case.<\/p>\n

The Agency for Health Care Administration found Shaknovsky and other physicians failed to properly use diagnostic testing and delayed imaging that could have helped treat Dorsett\u2019s sepsis. The agency didn\u2019t assign criminal liability.<\/p>\n

A lawsuit against Shaknovsky and the hospital over Dorsett\u2019s death remains ongoing, and Shaknovsky has denied wrongdoing in court filings.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Ascension Sacred Heart said Shaknovsky \u201cwas never a Sacred Heart Emerald Coast employee and has not practiced at any of our facilities since August 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Weyman Dorsett, the surgeon\u2019s arrest brings mixed emotions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet,\u201d he told NBC News. \u201cNothing\u2019s going to bring back Mr. Bryan or my mom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An NBC News report details additional allegations against a Northeast Florida surgeon already criminally charged in a high-profile…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239905,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-239904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}