Appellant Marie Dawson’s late husband, Johnny Lee Dawson, suffered respiratory arrest following cervical spine surgery and subsequently died. Dawson, individually and as a representative of the estate of her late husband, brought a medical malpractice and wrongful death action against appellees Dr. John Burkus, who performed the surgery, and Dr. Steven Leder, who provided post-operative care to the decedent. In support of her claims, Dawson relied upon the expert testimony of Dr. Karen Butler. The trial court excluded Dr. Butler’s testimony on the ground that she was unqualified to render an opinion under the standard set forth in OCGA § 24-9-67.11 as to the standard of care applicable to the decedent’s post-operative airway management, and consequently granted summary judgment to the appellees. The trial court also ruled that the evidence presented no question of material fact as to whether Dr. Leder met the standard of care, and alternatively granted summary judgment as to him on that basis.2 On appeal, Dawson challenges both of the trial court’s rulings. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. The relevant facts are as follows. In November 2000, Johnny Lee Dawson was admitted to Houston Sports Medicine Hospital under the care of Dr. Burkus, an orthopedic spine surgeon, to undergo cervical spine surgery. The surgery was performed without complication and Dawson does not allege negligence with respect to the surgical procedure itself.
Following the surgery, the decedent was transferred first to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit “PACU” under the care of Dr. Leder, the attending anesthesiologist. At the time Dr. Burkus left the PACU, he reported that the decedent was under Dr. Leder’s care and was stable both neurologically and otherwise. The decedent was then transferred to the Intensive Care Unit “ICU” and, at some point, his care was transferred to the on-call attending physician. While in the ICU, more than three hours after the surgery, the decedent suffered a respiratory arrest while undergoing breathing treatments. The on-call attending physician responded and performed a tracheotomy on the decedent in order to reestablish his airway. As a result of the respiratory arrest, the decedent suffered an anoxic brain injury which ultimately led to his death. Both of the appellees had left the hospital sometime prior to the decedent’s respiratory arrest.
