Florida Doctor Removes Liver instead of Spleen

Shit. That's one hell of a mistake.

Upstairs Hollywood, Florida Medical School?

America is short of trained professionals and hires fuckups from overseas who forge their credentials

Dr. "Florida Man"

Whoopsies! My bad!

The surgeon was a DO.

Today, I learned ... DOs can perform surgery.

Clearly a graduate of the Royal Tampa Academy of Medical Tricks!

[quote]The surgeon was a DO.

Now he's a DUH.

Florida is the flaccid cock of the United States.

I was wondering whether he removed the liver thinking that was what he was supposed to do or whether he mistook the liver for the spleen.

Apparently, the moron failed general anatomy and removed the liver thinking it was the spleen.

That's a level of malpractice that is beyond the pale. How can a general surgeon not know the difference.

HTF can you mistake the liver for the spleen? I know they are adjacent, but they are totally different organs.

"According to the Cleveland Clinic, the typical human spleen is roughly the size of an avocado, and the typical human liver is roughly the size of a football."

Dr. Nick Riviera?

From the linked story,

“After the procedure, Shaknovsky told Beverly Bryan that the “spleen” was so diseased that it was four times bigger than usual and had “migrated” to the other side of Mr. Bryan’s body.”

How did the surgeon not leave the hospital in cuffs?

The Inquirer on DL.

The spleen is on the left side of the torso, the liver is on the right. There is also a significant size difference between the two organs. He cut him up on the wrong side to begin with. And was the the only person in the operating room? Was everybody in there fucking high on crack?

"Zarzaur said the surgeon also mistakenly removed a portion of a patient’s pancreas instead of performing the intended adrenal gland resection at the same hospital. That case was settled in confidence, and Dr. Shaknovsky remained a surgeon at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital as recently as August 2024."

Sacred Heart or is it Sacred Lung?

There are fluke conditions or abnormalities like wandering spleen or situs inversus (see link) but none would explain an error like this. Any competent physician in any specialty, surgical or not, can tell a liver from a spleen.

Sometimes accusations against hospitals make headlines and if you know anything about medicine, you know there's not really a story there (and the hospital can't publicly defend itself in any detail for legal reasons). This is the type of event that has every doctor I know asking "What the fuck?" because no one can fathom any explanation beyond the surgeon being an alcoholic, drug addict, or the second coming of Christopher Duntsch.

By and large, Florida doctors are unethical and incompetent.

I speak from experience.

[quote] HTF can you mistake the liver for the spleen

Because the good doctor is an osteopath.

Right out of MAD TV.

Maybe the obese patient rolled over on his stomach when no one was looking and the surgeon got left and right confused.

FLORIDUH

This doesn't make any sense, there has to be at the very least 4 people in that operating room. WTF was going on?

I mean it didn't beep when I took it out so I thought I was right,

I mean a DLer could always use a liver transplant.

[quote]I mean it didn't beep when I took it out so I thought I was right,

You mean...buzz.

And the asshole tried to pass it off as a spleen

Paging the "Dr. Death" producers

He's dead, Jim.

And I thought the injectables at Days Inn were the scariest Florida medical procedure possible.

DO hire.

You had me at "Florida Doctor". I just knew it was going to be a real doozy.

[quote]The surgeon was a DO.

I look at stories like this and try to determine if it something that could happen to me. I would have checked his education, experience and reviews before I agreed to any cutting. See that he only had a DO from Midwestern University would have made it a hard pass for me and I would have never allowed him to be my surgeon.

This wasn’t his first mistake either. He previously removed part of a pancreas instead of an adrenal gland.

This "doctor" should have had his licence revoked eons ago and so should the turd that let him practice surgery in the first place.

Unfuckingbeliveable. And here I thought the anesthesiologist that messed up my aunt's intubation during her gallbladder removal was a poor excuse for a physician (the tube was too short and one lung collapsed).

He didn’t have enough time as a child playing the game “ operation.” Is that the game referred to upthread where it beeps ? I think the beep was activated if the child’s surgical tool ( a tweezers) touched the outline of the body ?

Answers please

^^yes

Well, the DO ruined the patient's Whole Body Health.

That's Floriduh!

Florida - it’s different.:

I feel like we’re not hearing the full story, no?

I thought they would've noticed when he started singing, "The ankle bone is connected to the shin bone." to find his way.

The scenario is explained CLEARLY in OP's linked article. The spleen was 4x the size of a normal spleen and on the wrong side of the body. So the doctor mistook it for the liver, cut it out, and the patient immediately bled to death.

It seems like a very tragic mistake.

[quote] Florida Doctor Removes Liver instead of Spleen

“Shit! Quick, this is an emergency! I’ve only charged to remove a spleen, but my rates for a liver are 50 grand higher! Someone get a signature on a new bill!”

Dr. Nick?

R45 is scarily accurate

Even if the spleen had migrated to the right side of the patient's body and was enlarged, how the hell did the MD not realize he was removing the liver instead? They are two different organs with differing vasculature. He didn't realize he was bisecting the hepatic artery? Because that's what killed the patient. He would have realized this right away.

R48 of course you are correct. I just explained what happened I didn't say why.

I have a doctor appointment today, stop scaring me!

R50, just draw a blue circle around everything you want to keep, and a red circle around anything you are happy for a doctor to hack out.

This is straight out of Arrested Development...

^^^^ Not to mention the film "The Hospital." 😬

Was no one assisting him? My God it seems like someone else might have pointed out, hey Doc that is the liver not the spleen.

Too bad his family couldn't mark the correct organ to remove with a marker.

This kind of mistake is unfathomable, really. The explanation isn't enough to explain it.

"Shaknovsky had made a similar mistake in 2023, removing portions of a pancreas instead of an adrenal gland, in a case that was settled privately, Zarzaur said."

WTF?

“In your spare time, you can earn a degree or certificate from home. A variety of programs from office technician to Florida back room surgeon!”

Hospitals cover for bad doctors just as police departments cover for bad law enforcement officers and churches cover for bad priests.

She's a KILLER! QUEEEEN!

Paging Doctor Killpatient. Paging Doctor Killpatient.

The Literal Doctor would have been preferable.