Allen Turner died due to complications from a surgery to remove a polyp from his intestines. Following his death, his daughter, Norkesia Turner, sued Dr. William Thompson; Dr. Heather Nolan; and their employer, the Medical Center of Central Georgia, for medical malpractice and wrongful death. Following trial, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of Turner, awarding her (1) $618,853.59 for medical and funeral expenses; (2) $1,443,300 for Allen’s pain and suffering; and (3) $7,216,500 in noneconomic damages for wrongful death. In challenging the jury verdict and denial of several post-trial motions, the defendants argued on appeal (1) Turner failed to present sufficient evidence that the surgeons’ failure to conduct a pre-surgery CT scan caused the doctors to sever Allen’s superior mesentery artery (“SMA”), which resulted in his death, and (2) the jury’s award of $7,200,000 in noneconomic damages for wrongful death improperly exceeded the $350,000 statutory limits on such damages in violation of OCGA § 51-13-1.
OCGA § 51-13-1 provides: “In any verdict returned or judgment entered in a medical malpractice action, including an action for wrongful death, against one or more health care providers, the total amount recoverable by a claimant for noneconomic damages in such action shall be limited to an amount not to exceed $350,000.00, regardless of the number of defendant health care providers against whom the claim is asserted or the number of separate causes of action on which the claim is based.”
With regard to the first issue, the Georgia Court of Appeals stated in its August 21, 2024 decision: “the issue before us is whether it is more likely than not that Drs. Thompson and Nolan’s failure to conduct a CT scan prior to surgery would have revealed the unusual location of the SMA, so the doctors could have avoided cutting it.” The Georgia Appellate Court held: “Turner was not required to present expert testimony that the expert was absolutely certain a CT scan would have prevented the doctors from severing Allen’s SMA. As a result, to the extent there was conflicting testimony “regarding causation, it is the province of the jury to decide which testimony is most believable.” And here, the jury evidently believed Dr. Evans’s testimony that a pre-surgery CT scan would likely—i.e., more likely than not—have prevented the doctors from severing Allen’s SMA. Under such circumstances, Turner presented sufficient evidence to prove causation by a preponderance of the evidence.”
With regard to the second issue, the Georgia Appellate Court stated: “the Supreme Court of Georgia unambiguously held—without any qualifications or exceptions—that “the noneconomic damages caps in OCGA § 51–13–1 violate the right to a jury trial as guaranteed under the Georgia Constitution.” Those caps expressly include wrongful-death claims in the context of a medical-malpractice action.”
Source The Medical Center of Central Georgia, Inc. v. Turner, A24A0378.
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