DOCTOR REMOVES LIVER INSTEAD OF SPLEEN, PATIENT DIES

A doctor based in the United States has been suspended after he removed a patient’s liver instead of his spleen. This led to the patient’s death.

The incident took place in Miami, Florida where Doctor Thomas Shaknovsky was working.

Joseph Ladapo and his wife were in Florida visiting from another state when he began to experience pain in his lower left abdominal area.

Ladapo and his wife went to the Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital. There, doctors were concerned about the abnormality of the spleen. He was admitted for further testing.

The tests revealed a suspected enlarged spleen. They also found blood in the peritoneum with no active haemorrhage.

Although the 70-year-old Ladapo said to Shaknovsky that he’d rather return to his home state for the operation, he was convinced by Shaknovsky to stay in the hospital and have an emergency operation.

During the operation, Shaknovsky removed the spleen instead of the patient’s liver. Ladapo started bleeding which eventually caused his death.

Fellow hospital staff members tried to resuscitate Ladapo, but they were unsuccessful.

IOL reports that upon investigating Bryan’s death, the legal team found that this wasn’t the first time Shaknovsky mistakenly performed surgery on the incorrect part of a patient’s body.

Image credit: New York Post