Following a jury trial, plaintiffs Connie and Gary Miller appeal the judgment in favor of defendants Harvey Cole, M.D., and Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C., on their malpractice claim, arguing that the trial court erred in granting defendants’ motion in limine to exclude expert testimony that Dr. Cole breached the standard of care in performing two prior surgeries on Connie Miller, which occurred three years before the surgery at issue and as to which any claims were time-barred. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. Viewed in support of the jury’s verdict, Wagner v. Pierce ,1 the record shows that Mrs. Miller suffers from an auto-immune illness that affects the thyroid gland known as Graves’ disease. As a result, in 1994, she began to experience swelling of the tissue behind her eyes, which caused her eyelids to retract and her eyes to bulge.2 She was treated for this symptom by Dr. Clinton McCord, an ophthalmic plastic surgeon, who performed corrective surgery on the eyelids of both of her eyes. In 1997, Mrs. Miller again suffered retraction of her right eyelid. Dr. McCord advised additional surgery to repair the lower part of that eyelid; however, Mrs. Miller instead decided to consult with Dr. Cole., who also practices ophthalmic surgery. Dr. Cole recommended that she undergo a surgical procedure known as an orbital decompression, which reduces the bulging eye symptom by removing bone from the orbital socket, thereby allowing the eye and surrounding tissue to sit farther back within the orbit. Mrs. Miller consented, and in July and September 1998, Dr. Cole performed decompression surgery on her right and left eyes respectively.
Not long after the 1998 surgeries, Dr. Cole recommended that Mrs. Miller undergo a second orbital decompression on her right eye because, in his opinion, that eye had not decompressed as well as hoped. Mrs. Miller eventually consented, and, in February 2001, Dr. Cole performed a second orbital decompression on her right eye. However, as a result of this surgery, Mrs. Miller’s right eye receded too far back into the orbital socket, rendering it sunken in appearance. To correct this outcome, Dr. Cole recommended that she undergo another surgical procedure, involving the insertion of an implant into the orbital socket to elevate her right eye. Mrs. Miller allowed Dr. Cole to perform the surgery; however, following the procedure, she suffered additional complications, including numbness, double vision, and loss of taste and smell. Over the next couple of years, Mrs. Miller underwent three more surgeries to resolve these complications, none of which was performed by Dr. Cole.
