Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky picked up two passengers at their hotel in his silver Mitsubishi. Standard Tuesday. Five-star rating. Middle name on the app. Then the police showed up, pressed him against the window, and cuffed him in front of his horrified fares.
The charge: second-degree manslaughter. The backstory: Shaknovsky allegedly removed the wrong organ during surgery — a liver instead of a spleen — and his patient, 70-year-old William Bryan, died on the table.
Shaknovsky had been driving for Lyft for over a year under his middle name, Jacob, maintaining that perfect five-star rating the entire time. One of the passengers joked to NBC News: “We’re not using Lyft again. From now on, we’re using Uber.”
The Surgery That Went Catastrophically Wrong
William Bryan and his wife, Beverly, were visiting their rental property in Okaloosa County, Florida, in August 2024 when Bryan started experiencing severe abdominal pain. Imaging at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital suggested his spleen might be enlarged — possibly requiring removal.
Shaknovsky recommended surgery. Bryan refused for three days, saying he wanted to go home to Alabama. But according to Florida’s Health Department, Shaknovsky “continued to pressure” him into the procedure.
Bryan eventually agreed.
The surgery was scheduled for August 21, 2024 — a minimally invasive splenectomy that wasn’t routinely performed at that hospital. Staff reportedly expressed concern that Shaknovsky “did not have the skill level to safely perform the surgery.”
They were right.
What Happened in the Operating Room
According to the Health Department’s emergency suspension order, things went wrong almost immediately. Shaknovsky began the procedure laparoscopically, then switched to an open surgery without documenting why. Staff noted that Bryan’s colon “burst out of the abdominal cavity” — a phrase that should never appear in a surgical report.
Bryan began hemorrhaging. Blood poured into the abdominal cavity. Nurses scrambled to suction it. An emergency transfusion was started. Staff attempted resuscitation.
Shaknovsky did not ask for a clamp or cauterizer to stop the bleeding. Instead, he continued removing the organ — even though the abdomen was full of blood.
When he finally extracted it, he announced it was the spleen.
It was not the spleen.
It was Bryan’s liver.
The staff was stunned. One nurse “felt sick to their stomach,” according to the Times. The Health Department noted that spleens and livers are on opposite sides of the abdomen, have different consistencies, and differ in color.
Bryan went into cardiac arrest and died.
The Aftermath: Suspension, Arrest, and a Silver Mitsubishi
A month after Bryan’s death, Florida’s surgeon general suspended Shaknovsky’s medical license. The hospital issued a statement clarifying that Shaknovsky “was never a Sacred Heart Emerald Coast employee and has not practiced at any of our facilities since August 2024.”
Shaknovsky claimed an aneurysm in the spleen ruptured and caused the bleeding — a claim contradicted by Bryan’s autopsy.
Beverly Bryan, William’s widow, told the New York Times she received the news in the hospital chapel while waiting with her daughters. “I never even imagined that he wouldn’t come out of that surgery alive,” she said. “Living without him is almost unbearable.”
She filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages of over $50,000.
Then, on April 13, 2026, Shaknovsky was arrested — mid-ride, passengers in the backseat, handcuffs against the window of his Lyft.
A spokesperson for Lyft told the New York Post that Shaknovsky was removed from the platform after his arrest.
He’s scheduled for arraignment on May 19. He’s pleaded not guilty and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
The Gig Economy Meets Medical Malpractice
There’s something darkly absurd about a surgeon — suspended for allegedly removing the wrong organ — maintaining a five-star rating on a ride-share app while awaiting criminal charges. It’s the kind of detail that makes you wonder what other credentials we’re not checking.
Lyft requires a background check. It does not require proof that you haven’t accidentally killed someone in an operating room.
Shaknovsky drove under his middle name. Kept his rating spotless. Picked up, strangers. Made small talk, presumably. Then got arrested in front of them.
The passengers’ joke — “We’re not using Lyft again” — lands like gallows humor because it’s the only rational response to witnessing your driver get cuffed for manslaughter.
What This Says About Oversight (Or the Lack of It)
The Health Department’s report is damning. Staff knew Shaknovsky wasn’t qualified for the surgery. They expressed concern before he started. They watched him make catastrophic errors in real time. And still, the procedure went forward.
The hospital’s statement — emphasizing that Shaknovsky “was never an employee” — reads like liability management, not accountability.
Beverly Bryan’s attorney, Joe Zarzaur, told Law & Crime: “Dr. Shaknovsky’s failure to meet the accepted standard of care and Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast’s involvement in the alleged cover-up has caused irreparable harm.”
The phrase “alleged cover-up” is doing a lot of work there.
The Punchline That Isn’t Funny
William Bryan didn’t want the surgery. He said no three times. He wanted to go home to Alabama. But Shaknovsky allegedly pressured him into it — a procedure he wasn’t qualified to perform, at a hospital that didn’t routinely do it, with staff who doubted his competence.
Bryan died on the table. Shaknovsky lost his license a month later. Then he started driving strangers around town under his middle name.
The passengers who watched him get arrested joked about switching to Uber. It’s the kind of joke you make when the alternative is sitting with the fact that the systems meant to catch this — hospital oversight, licensing boards, background checks — all failed in sequence.
Beverly Bryan is living without her husband. Shaknovsky is awaiting trial. And somewhere in Florida, someone’s probably getting into a Lyft driven by someone whose last job ended very, very badly.