On June 7, 2011, plaintiffs’ decedent Edward Gilner, 62, a long-time Los Angeles County employee, presented to Dr. John Woodcock, a family practitioner, with complaints of chronic neck pain that had been ongoing for many, many years. Since approximately 2001, Gilner had been under the care of Woodcock for multiple medical needs, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and hyperlipidemia. Gilner allegedly kept his medical problems in excellent control, and both he and Woodcock were quite familiar with each other, given the extreme number of office visits between the two over the 11 years. However, at the time of the June 2011 visit, Gilner complained of ongoing, chronic neck pain and edema in both lower extremities. Woodcock attributed the edema to decreased activity levels, secondary to hernia surgery that occurred one month earlier, and a diabetic medication, identified as Actos, which can cause fluid retention. Gilner was next seen by Woodcock on July 19, 2011, and he again complained of severe neck pain. Woodcock charted, among other things, that Gilner’s symptom complex included the neck complaints as well as upper anterior chest pain, and that Gilner’s pain complaints were described as constant in nature. As a result, Woodcock requested that the health maintenance organization (HMO) provide authorization for an MRI and a referral to a neurosurgeon. The MRI was subsequently performed in August 2011, but the HMO declined a referral to a neurosurgeon and, instead, referred Gilner for physical therapy. On Aug. 29, 2011, Gilner underwent his first physical therapy session without incident. He then presented to Woodcock the next day in order to discuss the results of the MRI study, as well as discuss his ongoing labs for his multiple medical problems. The following day, on Sept. 1, 2011, Gilner was involved in a confrontation with a coworker at work, which he had been back to since late May 2011, after the hernia surgery. Following the confrontation, Gilner stated he did not feel well and planned to go to an urgent care center. However, a short time later, fellow workers discovered Gilner down on the pavement, next to his pickup truck. Despite CPR efforts, he could not be resuscitated. A private autopsy demonstrated severe coronary artery disease and mural scarring in the heart wall, suggesting that Gilner had suffered prior “silent heart attacks.” The decedent’s wife, plaintiff Teresa Gilner, and adult son, David Gilner, sued Woodcock, alleging that Woodcock failed to diagnose the decedent’s condition and failed to timely refer him to a cardiologist. The decedent’s family also alleged that Woodcock’s failures constituted medical malpractice. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Woodcock failed to work the decedent up for possible cardiac disease after the June and July 2011 visits. Counsel contended that if Woodcock had referred the decedent to a cardiologist, the decedent would have likely had a stress test that would have been positive for cardiac disease, followed by an angiography and either bypass surgery or stenting of the coronary arteries. Plaintiffs’ counsel further contended that those actions would have left the decedent with a normal work life expectancy, as well as life expectancy. Woodcock claimed that the lower extremity edema that was seen on June 7, 2011 did not persist. He contended that it was reasonable for him to conclude that, while possible, cardiac disease was an unlikely explanation for the patient’s lower extremity edema on that date, since the patient was not exhibiting other signs and symptoms of cardiac disease, including congestive heart failure. As to the July 19, 2011 visit, Woodcock maintained that the decedent did not present with a new complaint of chest pain at all, but that in charting “upper anterior chest pain,” he was merely trying to fully describe the symptom complex involving the patient’s long-term chronic neck complaints at that point., Edward Gilner passed away on Sept. 1, 2011. A private autopsy demonstrated severe coronary artery disease and mural scarring in the heart wall, suggesting that Gilner had suffered prior “silent heart attacks.” He was 63 years old. The decedent is survived by his wife, plaintiff Teresa Gilner, age 59, and their son, plaintiff David Gilner, age 40. Plaintiffs’ counsel noted that the decedent was participating in a non-contributory pension plan with the county of Los Angeles that required retirement in order to collect benefits. Since the decedent did not reach retirement, no pension benefits were available upon his death. As a result, the decedent’s family sought recovery of $696,000 for past and future loss of earnings, lost pension benefits, and funeral expenses. Ms. Gilner also sought recovery of general damages, secondary to the fact that the two enjoyed a very happy 25-year marriage. The decedent’s son maintained that he had lost the guidance and assistance of his father in raising his own family. Thus, he also sought recovery of damages to the loss of parental guidance.