After suffering complications from bariatric surgery, Philip Altine filed a Georgia medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor who performed the surgery and Eastside Medical Center, LLC (“Eastside”), who employed the nurses who treated Altine post surgery. The defendant doctor settled the claims against him and was dismissed from the suit. The negligence claims against Eastside proceeded to trial, and Eastside was allowed to proffer evidence during trial that the doctor had settled. After an eight-day trial, the Georgia medical malpractice jury found in favor of Eastside. Altine appealed, arguing that it was error to allow evidence of the doctor’s settlement.
Under OCGA§ 24-4-408, evidence that a party has settled the claims against it is generally not admissible to establish liability, but may be admissible for another purpose, such as to show bias of a witness.
The Court of Appeals of Georgia stated in its July 2, 2024 opinion: “Pretermitting whether it was error to admit the fact that Dr. Menachery settled his claims, the admission of that evidence did not affect the verdict … Here, weighing the evidence recounted above as a reasonable juror would, Altine failed to establish that the nurses breached the standard of care regarding his bleeding, or that any of the nurses’ actions caused his injuries. Given the overall strength of the evidence showing the doctor was the party who breached the standard of care, it is highly probable that admission of the settlement had no effect on the jury’s verdict in favor of Eastside. This is especially true where, as here, there was a special verdict form, and the trial court gave detailed instructions to the jury that it could not consider the settlement in evaluating the nurses’ standard of care.”
“On this record, there was more than enough evidence for the jury to conclude that the nurses did not breach the standard of care or cause Altine’s injuries, and thus there was no liability on the part of the hospital. Accordingly, considering the evidence de novo, and weighing it as a reasonable juror would, it is highly probable that the evidence of the doctor’s settlement did not contribute to the verdict here. We therefore affirm.”
“Even if the jury found the doctor’s testimony in this regard lacked credibility, the remaining evidence at trial overwhelmingly showed that the doctor was the one who breached the standard of care and that it was the doctor’s conduct that caused Altine’s kidney damage.”
Source Altine v. Eastside Medical Center, LLC, A24A0088.
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