Opinion ID: 1060369
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admission of Physical Therapist’s Testimony

Text: Travelers also asserts that the trial court erred in admitting the deposition testimony of physical therapist Kathy B. Lane. This Court has held “that a physical therapist is not qualified to form and express an expert opinion as to the permanent impairment or permanent physical restrictions of an injured person . . . . [A] physical therapist’s testimony must be limited to objective findings and cannot encompass an opinion on ultimate disability.” Bolton v. DNA Ins. Co., 821 S.W.2d 932, 938 (Tenn. 1991). We have acknowledged, however, that “nothing we have said would limit a physical therapist from making future physical activity recommendations to the referring physician or a patient based on the results of tests performed within the scope of a physical therapist’s licensure, nor from offering testimony thereon.” Id. Lane’s testimony was comprised of her objective test findings and therefore was within these strictures; there was no error in admitting Lane’s testimony.