A jury awarded Lisa M. Brazell $125,000 on her medical malpractice claim against Brian S. Chadwick, M. D., and Haven Gynecology, P.C., d/b/a Haven Medical Spa Cosmetic Surgery hereinafter “Chadwick”. In Case No. A14A2279, Chadwick appeals, asserting that the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion in limine to exclude mention of Brazell’s punitive damages claim and by failing to grant his motion for attorney fees pursuant to OCGA § 9-11-68. In Case No. A14A2280, Brazell appeals, asserting that the trial court erred in allowing Chadwick to testify as an expert witness, and in refusing to award her attorney fees pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-14. She also asserts that the court erred in failing to order a new trial in light of what she alleges was Chadwick’s impermissible expert testimony and because the jury’s verdict was against the weight of the evidence. For the following reasons, we affirm in both cases.
In her complaint,1 Brazell alleged that Chadwick negligently: performed her breast implant surgery and did not have the proper education, training and skills to do so; failed to obtain consultation and referral for performance of the procedure and for management of postoperative complications; failed to disclose to her the material risks of the surgery and failed to obtain her informed consent for the procedure; failed to recognize and properly treat her non-healing surgical wound when the implant began to protrude though her skin; re-sutured the non-healing skin instead of promptly removing the implant and placing a drain; prematurely reinserted the implant a month later and attempted to improperly use the implant as a tissue expander; and failed to allow eight weeks to three months for healing before placement of a tissue expander or another implant. After suffering further complications, Brazell sought the help of another physician who removed the implant. Brazell alleged that she “suffered loss of tissue and asymmetry and would require at least two reconstructive procedures, including placement of a breast implant into the left breast at a future time.”