Court Opinion

ID: 9849529
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:42:03.873997+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:17.347957
License: Public Domain

ANDREWS, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent because the decision by a physician regarding which of two medical procedures available is appropriate for treatment of a patient calls for the exercise of professional judgment, the claimed breach of which requires the filing of an affidavit pursuant to OCGA § 9-11-9.1.
Having examined Fender and evaluated his condition, Dr. Murrah made the professional judgment that the traditional method of bypass surgery would be appropriate to treat Fender. The statements he made to Fender regarding the equipment available at South Georgia Medical Center were premised on his judgment regarding treatment.
The complaint contains no allegation that, at the time he made the statements to Fender, Dr. Murrah was aware of the problem with Fender’s aorta which would require the use of the “off pump” method. Any reading of the allegations of the complaint to include Dr. Murrah’s failure to have foreseen the possibility of such a complication would implicitly require professional judgment and, therefore, the filing of the affidavit required by OCGA § 9-11-9.1. See Brown v. Tift Health Care, 279 Ga. App. 164, 166-167 (630 SE2d 788) (2006); Goodin v. Gwinnett Health System, 273 Ga. App. 461, 462 (2) (615 SE2d 129) (2005); Peterson v. Columbus Med. Center Foundation, 243 Ga. App. 749, 754 (2) (533 SE2d 749) (2000).