After some time, the staff could not resuscitate Brian and he was pronounced dead. Shaknovsky removed the organ, which Brian called the spleen, and placed it on the table. According to the report, the staff looked at the easily identifiable liver in the shock. One reported stomach ache.
Incorrectly identified bodies
The removed liver Shaknovsky weighed more than 2100 grams, measured approximately 23x19x11 centimeters. An enlarged spleen can weigh up to 500 grams and only 20 cm in length, the health department noted. Moreover, the liver and spleen are anatomically different and have different colors and consistencies. The liver is on the right side of his abdomen and the spleen is on the left, which Brian said was painful.
Shaknowski insisted that the liver be labeled as a spleen and returned to the hospital three times that evening to convince the staff that it was a spleen. Pathology report one of the so-called spleen described it as “a liver weighing 2106 g”.
An autopsy revealed that Brian’s spleen was intact, his liver was missing, and his inferior vena cava was severed. The inferior vena cava is the largest vein in the body and returns deoxygenated blood from the lower body to the heart via the liver.
While examining the gruesome circumstances of Brian’s death, investigators noted that it was not the first time that Shaknowski had removed the wrong organ. In 2023, he mistakenly removed part of the pancreas of a patient who was going to have an adrenal gland removed. He later reported that his adrenal gland had “migrated.”
The lawsuit filed by Brian’s widow is still ongoing. He This was reported by NBC News: “He wanted to prevent his death from hurting anyone else, and I think the criminal charges that have been filed will do that. If we have to suffer through this and he has to die, at least now no one will be hurt except this man.”
