DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Florida — A grand jury has formally charged a doctor in Florida with manslaughter, following allegations that he mistakenly removed a patient’s liver instead of his spleen during a surgical procedure in 2024.

On Monday, the First Judicial Circuit’s prosecutor announced that Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky is facing a second-degree manslaughter charge.

According to prosecutors, during a surgery intended to be a laparoscopic splenectomy on August 21, 2024, Dr. Shaknovsky removed the liver of a 70-year-old man from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, leading to “catastrophic blood loss and the patient’s death on the operating table,” as detailed in a law enforcement press release.

Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson emphasized the commitment to pursue the facts impartially, stating, “Our duty is to follow the facts wherever they lead, without fear or favor.”

Current court documents do not indicate whether Dr. Shaknovsky has legal representation.

Following the incident, Florida authorities suspended his medical license, and records indicate that he voluntarily surrendered his medical license in Alabama after regulatory efforts to revoke it.