Opinion ID: 2430294
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: exclusion of medical testimony

Text: The plaintiff argues the trial judge erred in admitting the medical proof of Dr. McInnis, because he did not follow the AMA Guidelines in assessing permanent impairment, or use an inclinometer to measure range of motion. We disagree. The decision of whether to admit expert testimony into evidence rests within the sound discretion of the trial judge. Shelby County v. Barden, 527 S.W.2d 124, 131 (Tenn. 1975). Dr. McInnis examined the plaintiff for the purpose of determining whether she suffered a permanent disability as a result of her work-related fall. Because he did not find any permanent disability, Dr. McInnis was not required to go further and utilize the AMA Guidelines to assign the plaintiff a permanent disability rating to make his testimony competent. The trial judge did not abuse her discretion in admitting Dr. McInnis's testimony on the issues of permanency and causation. Finally, the plaintiff contends the trial court erred in excluding the physical therapist's testimony on causation. The plaintiff contends that it is well within a physical therapist's expertise to give an expert opinion on whether a certain injury was caused by a work-related incident. This Court has previously held that a physical therapist is not qualified to give an expert opinion on the permanent impairment or permanent physical restrictions of an injured person. See Bolton v. CNA Ins. Co., 821 S.W.2d 932 (Tenn. 1991). Since both permanency and causation of a work-related injury must be shown in most cases by expert medical evidence, Tindall v. Waring Park Ass'n, supra , the rationale of Bolton v. CNA applies with equal force to a physical therapist's opinion on medical causation. As a result, we conclude that the trial judge properly excluded the physical therapist's testimony on this issue. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial judge. The costs of this appeal are assessed to the plaintiff. REID, C.J., and DROWOTA, O'BRIEN and DAUGHTREY, JJ., concur.