Part 1 General Provisions 29-26-101 – 29-26-122
Part 2 Therapist Sexual Misconduct Victims Compensation 29-26-201 – 29-26-210

Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 29 > Chapter 26 - Health Care Liability

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Agriculture: means :
    (i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Appraisal: A determination of property value.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Betterment: means any upgrading of the facility being relocated that is not attributable to the highway construction and is made solely for the benefit of, and at the election of, the utility. See Tennessee Code 54-5-802
  • board: means the board provided for in part 3 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Claimant: means any of the following:
    (A) The victim. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
  • Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Collector: includes any person entrusted with the collection of public revenue. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Combatant: means any person eighteen (18) years of age or older who engages in a professional unarmed combat contest. See Tennessee Code 68-115-102
  • Commission: means the Tennessee athletic commission. See Tennessee Code 68-115-102
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-103
  • Commissioner: means any person in office as a member of the public service commission, as prescribed by title 65, chapter 1, prior to June 30, 1996. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-103
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-4-502
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-802
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • connector: means a roadway, or segment of a roadway, that will provide, or facilitate, appropriate ingress and egress, between an interstate highway or fully controlled access highway facility and a roadway that is of important benefit to a populous locality. See Tennessee Code 54-5-502
  • Contest: means an unarmed combat sport competition or exhibition in which at least one (1) of the combatants is a professional or has previously competed as a professional in this state or any other state or in which licensed combatants compete for a purse or item of value greater than that amount authorized pursuant to subdivision (1) for an amateur event. See Tennessee Code 68-115-102
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Cost of relocation: means the entire amount paid by or on behalf of the utility properly attributable to the relocation after deducting from that amount any betterment of the new facility and any salvage value derived from the old facility. See Tennessee Code 54-5-802
  • Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
  • County mayor: means and includes "county executive" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Deception: means the representation that sexual actions are part of or consistent with the patient's treatment by the therapist. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Department: means the state department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-3-103
  • Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-103
  • Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-103
  • Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-4-502
  • Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-402
  • Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-502
  • Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-802
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • development: means the entire process of bringing a tollway or toll facility project to completion, including, but not limited to, planning, feasibility analysis, environmental evaluation, preliminary engineering, design, acquisition of rights-of-way, relocation of utilities, permitting, environmental mitigation, contracting, funding and construction. See Tennessee Code 54-3-103
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • Employer: means any person or entity that employs any therapist for the purpose of providing therapy. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
  • Employer: means :
    (A) The state or any department, commission, institution, board or agency of the state government by which a member is paid, with respect to members in its employ. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Health care liability action: means any civil action, including claims against the state or a political subdivision thereof, alleging that a health care provider or providers have caused an injury related to the provision of, or failure to provide, health care services to a person, regardless of the theory of liability on which the action is based. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
  • Health care provider: means :
    (A) A health care practitioner licensed, authorized, certified, registered, or regulated under any chapter of title 63 or title 68, including, but not limited to, medical resident physicians, interns, and fellows participating in a training program of one of the accredited medical schools or of one of such medical school's affiliated teaching hospitals in Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
  • Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
  • Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • industrial: means facilities for the manufacture of goods or for the production or processing of commodities. See Tennessee Code 54-5-402
  • Industrial highway: means any extension of, or connection with the highway system, including state and federal highways, rural roads, and municipal streets, constructed under this part. See Tennessee Code 54-5-402
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Licensee: means a health care provider licensed, authorized, certified, registered, or regulated under title 33, 63, or 68 that is legally responsible for all health care services provided. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Local agency: means any county or incorporated city or town in this state. See Tennessee Code 54-5-502
  • Local government: means any county, incorporated city or town, and metropolitan form of government, or any of them. See Tennessee Code 54-4-502
  • Major thoroughfare system: means the system of arterial and collector streets serving an urban-like developed area. See Tennessee Code 54-5-502
  • Management company: means an individual or entity that contracts with, or receives a fee from, a licensee to provide any of the following services to or for a licensee:
    (A) Directly hiring or firing the administrator or other managing employees of the licensee. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
  • Manager: means a person who:
    (i) Undertakes to represent the interests of another person by contract, agreement or other arrangement, in procuring, arranging or conducting a professional contest in which the person will participate as a combatant. See Tennessee Code 68-115-102
  • Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided in chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Municipal street aid fund: means the funds provided for municipalities by §. See Tennessee Code 54-4-201
  • Municipality: means any incorporated city or incorporated town charged with the duty of constructing and maintaining streets within its corporate boundaries. See Tennessee Code 54-4-201
  • Municipality: means any county, incorporated city or town, or any public port authority or transportation authority in this state. See Tennessee Code 54-5-402
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Passive investor: means an individual or entity that has an ownership interest in a licensee but does not directly participate in the day-to-day decision making or operations of the licensee. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
  • Patient: means a person who has obtained therapy from a therapist. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
  • Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
  • Professional: means a person who competes or has competed in an unarmed combat sport contest for the purpose of a purse or item of value greater than that amount authorized for an amateur event, or any person who has been previously licensed in any other jurisdiction as a professional. See Tennessee Code 68-115-102
  • Project: includes all of the phases of work required to produce a completed connector, including location, design, acquisition of rights-of-way, relocation of utility facilities, the cost of which is not the legal obligation of the owners thereof, and the construction or reconstruction of the connector. See Tennessee Code 54-5-502
  • Promoter: means any person who produces, stages or sponsors any professional contest of unarmed combat. See Tennessee Code 68-115-102
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
  • Public highway: means any highway included on the state highway system or interstate system and any highway, road or street that is owned, maintained, or owned and maintained by a county or municipality, including the right-of-way for the highway, road or street. See Tennessee Code 54-5-802
  • Purse: means the financial guarantee or any other remuneration for which combatants are participating in a professional contest and includes the combatant's share of any payment received for radio broadcasting, television or motion picture rights. See Tennessee Code 68-115-102
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Relocation: means the adjustment of a utility facility as the commissioner determines is necessary or appropriate in connection with the construction or reconstruction of a public highway. See Tennessee Code 54-5-802
  • Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
  • Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Retirement system: means the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Salvage value: means the amount received from the sale of utility property that has been removed or, if retained for reuse, the amount at which the recovered material is charged to the utility's accounts. See Tennessee Code 54-5-802
  • Second: means a person, including a manager, who is present at any professional unarmed combat contest to provide assistance or advice to combatants during a professional contest of unarmed combat. See Tennessee Code 68-115-102
  • Service: means service as a general employee, a teacher, a state police officer, a wildlife officer, a firefighter, a police officer, a state judge, a county judge, an attorney general, a commissioner or a county official which is paid for by an employer, and also includes service for which a former member of the general assembly is entitled to under former §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • Sexual behavior: means sexual activity of the victim other than the sexual act or acts at issue in the case. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
  • Sexual misconduct: means any of the following, regardless of the consent of the patient:
    (i) Any intrusion into an opening of the patient's body by any part of the therapist's body, or an object used by the therapist to effect an intrusion for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
  • Street: includes streets, highways, avenues, boulevards, publicly owned rights-of-way, bridges, tunnels, public parking areas or other public ways dedicated to public use and maintained for general public travel lying within a municipality's corporate boundaries. See Tennessee Code 54-4-201
  • Street improvements: means construction, reconstruction, improvement and maintenance of streets, including paving, repaving, grading and drainage, repairs, cleaning, acquisition and maintenance of rights-of-way, extension and widening of existing streets, elimination of railroad grade crossings, acquisition or lease or lease/purchase of trucks or other equipment necessary in the construction and maintenance of streets, including the purchase, construction or leasing of facilities to store the equipment, street lighting, signage and other traffic control devices, and administrative and other necessary expenses, including labor and employee benefits, in connection with the street improvements. See Tennessee Code 54-4-201
  • Superseded system: means , where applicable, the Tennessee state retirement system, the Tennessee teachers' retirement system, the Tennessee judges' retirement system, the retirement system for county paid judges of Tennessee, the attorneys general retirement system of Tennessee, the public service commissioners' retirement system, and the Tennessee retirement system for county officials, any one (1) of them, or any combination thereof. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Therapist: means any person who performs therapy regardless of whether the person is licensed by the state. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
  • Therapy: includes , but is not limited to, marital counseling, substance abuse treatment, and family counseling. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
  • toll facility: means any highway, bridge, tunnel, parking lot or garage, and/or other paved surface or structure designed to carry or contain land transportation vehicles, or any other transportation-related facility, the development or operation of which may be wholly or partially funded or financed with toll revenues. See Tennessee Code 54-3-103
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Unarmed combat: means and includes boxing, mixed martial arts and kickboxing as defined and regulated under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 68-115-102
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Utility: means a privately, publicly or cooperatively owned line, facility or system used, available for use or formerly used to transmit or distribute communications, electricity, gas, liquids, steam, sewerage, or other materials to the public. See Tennessee Code 54-5-802
  • Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
  • wildflowers: means plants or grasses that are native to the southeastern United States, and Tennessee in particular, when available. See Tennessee Code 54-5-1203
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105