dissenting.
I respectfully dissent because I disagree with those portions of the opinion which conclude (I suppose as a matter of law) that the awards of punitive damages were to punish rather than deter. The absence of a discernible relationship between the amount of actual damages and the amount of punitive damages does not necessarily *658invalidate the latter. See Hosp. Auth. of Gwinnett County v. Jones, 259 Ga. 759, 762 (2), fn. 9 (386 SE2d 120) (1989).
Decided December 4, 1990 — Reconsideration denied December 19, 1990. Butler, Wooten, Overby & Cheeley, James E. Butler, Jr., for appellees. Harmon, Owen, Saunders & Sweeney, H. Andrew Owen, Jr., David C. Will, Thomas L. Murphy, Benny Byrd, Jr., amici curiae.