Elliott v. Patterson

Murphy, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. When Dr. Jerome Powell, a licensed Maryland chiropractor, had concluded testifying as to his examination ³⁴² and treatment of appellants Marion Elliott and Thomas Creek, appellee Charles Patterson moved to strike all his testimony on the ground that it was beyond his field of professional competence because it related to the practice of physical therapy, a field in which he was unlicensed. The trial judge granted the motion to strike and shortly thereafter, finding no medical testimony which could properly be submitted to the jury, granted appellee’s motion for a directed verdict. Appellants contend on appeal that the court erred in so ruling.

We agree. On November 22, 1968 appellant Marion Elliott, together with his passenger Thomas Creek, was driving east on Twin River Road in Columbia, Maryland when the westerly driven automobile of appellee attempted to make a left turn in front of the Elliott vehicle. A collision resulted. That evening both Elliott and Creek went to Dr. Powell.

Dr. Powell was appellants’ only medical witness at the trial. In response to direct and cross-examination, he said his professional qualifications included graduation! in 1950, after a four year course of study, from the National Chiropractic College in Chicago and a subsequent internship at the Chicago General Health Service. Dr. Powell testified that he became licensed to practice chiropractic and physical therapy in Maryland in 1951. He stated that much of his practice involved physical therapy, working with physical therapists, and physical therapy equipment.

Dr. Powell testified with respect to his examination of appellant Elliott, stating that he found no fractures after taking x-rays, and that he gave him seventeen physical therapy treatments between November 1968 and March 1969. He further testified that he diagnosed Elliott’s condition as “acute musculo-ligamentous strain of the cervical, dorsal, and lumbrosacral spine (i.e., strain from the neck down the back side to the pelvic cavity) and contusion (i.e, bruising) of the left anterior chest.” He testified that his findings also included distorted standing posture, neck muscle spasms, limited motion rotating, flexing and extending the neck, shoulder ³⁴³ blade pain, and back muscle rigidity. He said his physical therapy treatments of Elliott included moist heat packs, ultrasound, soft tissue massage, and active and passive exercise of the spine. Dr. Powell was permitted to give his opinion, based upon reasonable medical certainty, that Elliott’s automobile injury was the cause of his medical condition, and that he had sustained a 15% permanent partial disability of the lower back and mild residual disability of the neck.

Dr. Powell gave similar testimony with respect to his examination and treatment of appellant Thomas Creek. During cross-examination, appellee brought out testimony tending to establish the following syllogism: (1) that “chiropractic,” as defined by Maryland statute, is manipulation of the spine by any method not including drugs, surgery, obstetrics or osteopathy; 1 (2) Dr. Powell’s treatment, which involved no correction of spinal dislocation, was not, technically speaking, “chiropractic” but was physical therapy; (3) therefore, since no “chiropractic” treatment was involved, Dr. Powell’s testimony was incompetent and should be stricken. In striking Dr. Powell’s testimony, the trial court construed the following proviso within Section 504(b) of Article 43 of the Maryland Code: “* * * no chiropractors, licensed after June 1, 1949, or who were not attending a duly licensed college of chiropractic on such date and subsequently graduated therefrom, shall practice physical therapy until he shall have successfully ³⁴⁴ passed an examination before said Board on that subject, but any applicant may be licensed as a chiropractor without the right to practice physical therapy upon the successful passage of an examination on the subjects hereinbefore mentioned other than the subject of physical therapy.” (Emphasis added.) The trial court determined that the term “said Board” referred back to “physical therapy,” and meant the Board of Physical Therapy