On Feb. 26, 2010, at 10 a.m., plaintiff Raymond Arredondo, an unemployed 39 year old, was stopped in his 2006 Dodge Dakota in the left turning lane of northbound Soscal Avenue in Napa when his vehicle was struck by a 1996 Lexus sedan, which was operated by a non-party driver. The Lexus was initially struck by a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado operated by Joaquin Ledesma, who was in the #2 lane of eastbound Lincoln Avenue, approaching the intersection with Soscal Avenue on a green light. Arredondo claimed neck and back from the incident. Arredondo sued Ledesma for motor vehicle negligence. However, he failed to name the driver of the Lexus as a defendant. Arredondo alleged that Ledesma was driving west on Lincoln Avenue when he attempted a left turn onto southbound Soscal Avenue. However, he claimed that Ledesma began the turn on a red light and collided with the Lexus, who Arredondo claimed was traveling east on Lincoln Avenue on a green light. Arredondo further alleged that this collision caused the Lexus to spin out of control and collide with his Dodge Dakota, pushing it 10 to 15 feet. Ledesma’s counsel noted that there was no dispute that Ledesma’s vehicle never made contact with Arredondo’s vehicle. Ledesma claimed that he was driving in the #2 lane of eastbound Lincoln Avenue, approaching the intersection with Soscal Avenue on a green light. He alleged that when he entered the intersection, the non-party Lexus ran a red light, causing him to be unable to stop in time to avoid impacting the Lexus. Ledesma claimed that as a result of that impact, the Lexus spun to a stop and impacted Arredondo’s vehicle, which was stopped in the left turn lane of northbound Soscal Avenue., Arredondo was transported from the scene by Piners Ambulance to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa for evaluation by emergency room staff and his treating emergency medicine physician. Arredondo was ultimately discharged after a few hours with a musculoskeletal strain, and was prescribed Motrin and Soma, a muscle relaxant. Five days later, on March 2, 2010, Arredondo presented to a chiropractor with complaints of neck pain, upper back pain/stiffness, mid-back pain/stiffness, lower back pain/stiffness, and difficulty with excessive standing, walking and bending. He also claimed that the pain radiated from his neck, base of the skull, shoulder, arms, hips and legs. The chiropractor noted that Arredondo was unemployed and, upon examination, found Arredondo to be well nourished and of muscular build. The chiropractor also noted that the cervical rotation on the left of Arredondo was 45 degrees and was 60 degrees on the right. As a result, Arredondo returned the following day to start chiropractic treatment three days a week, for a total of 32 visits until June 17, 2010. On March 11, 2010, Arredondo was seen by his primary care physician at Community Health Clinic Ole in Napa for a follow up appointment. Arredondo claimed that he told the doctor that he was continuing to experience pain in his neck muscles, lower back and trapezius. As a result, he was instructed to continue with the Motrin and Soma, and given a referral for physical therapy. Arredondo returned to Community Health Clinic Ole on April 1, 2010, and was seen by a physician. This time, he had new complaints of moderate-to-severe lower back sciatic distribution down to his heel for four weeks. The physician subsequently prescribed Salsalate 500 mg tablets, Nortriptyline HCl and Gabapentin for his sciatica, as well as instructed Arredondo to follow up in two weeks. As instructed, Arredondo returned for follow up on April 20, 2010. The record reflected that he continued to have lower back pain with left leg radiation since the accident. Arredondo also stated that he could not play or pick up children, and was limited in his activities. In addition, he told the examining physician that the medication that was previously prescribed did not help and that he took his cousin’s Norco, which did help. Thus, Arredondo requested something similar to Norco, and the examining physician prescribed Arredondo with Vicodin and referred him for an MRI of his lumbar spine. On May 11, 2010, Arredondo underwent an MRI of his lumbar spine at Queen of the Valley Hospital. A radiologist interpreted the results to show bilateral spondylolysis of the L5 vertebra, without evidence of edema and with minimal Grade I spondylolisthesis, a condition in which a vertebra in the spine slips out of the proper position onto the bone below it, of the L5 vertebra onto the S1 vertebra. The radiologist also interpreted the results to show a disc dehydration and very mild disc bulge at the L5-S1 level. Arredondo was next seen as a “new patient” at a MediCann facility, which provided a medical marijuana card on June 18, 2010. At that time, Arredondo claimed that his major issues were chronic insomnia, headaches for two years, as well as pain from the subject accident. Arredondo claimed that his insomnia, headaches and pain were helped with the medical marijuana. However, he continued treating with his primary care physician’s assistant at Community Health Clinic Ole in order to refill his Vicodin prescription to treat his lower back pain and left-sided radicular pain. As referred by his attorney, Arredondo saw an expert neurologist for a comprehensive neurologic evaluation on Nov. 30, 2010. At that time, Arredondo complained of lower back pain on the left side, specifically over the left hip, buttocks and posterior leg. He was also noted as still taking Motrin and Vicodin for his pain symptoms, as well as smoking 12 cigarettes a day and marijuana three times a day for headaches emanating from a 1988 motor vehicle accident, after which he was only seen at St. Helena Hospital in Calistoga and no lawsuit was filed. As a result, Arredondo’s expert neurologist recommended a steroid injection to the left sacroiliac joint and referred Arredondo to a pain specialist. The pain specialist had a first consultation with Arredondo on March 29, 2011, during which Arredondo’s complaints were of lower back pain radiating into his left lower extremity. As a result, the pain specialist recommended that Arredondo proceed with a left L5-S1 transforaminal epidural steroid injection. On June 29, 2011, Arredondo was seen for an initial consultation with a physician for his complaints of lower back pain and left leg pain. Those records reflected that Arredondo was not receiving any significant improvement with physical therapy and chiropractic treatment, that he was taking Vicodin three times a day and still had pain, and that pain was noted to be worse when sitting and walking for long periods of time. As a result, the physician found Arredondo to have lower back pain and left leg pain secondary to lumbar radiculopathy from a L5-S1 disc protrusion and tobacco dependence. The physician subsequently suggested a caudal epidural steroid injection under ultrasound guidance and performed the procedure at that time. Arredondo then returned to the physician on Oct.18, 2011, and a caudal epidural steroid injection using ultrasound guidance was performed. The medical record at that time noted that Arredondo experienced improvement within one to two weeks of the first injection and that during an examination, he had full range of motion in the lumbar spine, and that his pain was increased with flexion and lateral bending. Arredondo did not have any additional treatment related to the accident following the October 2011 steroid injection. However, he claimed that he continues to have pain of about 4-to-6-out-of-10 in his lower back, with left extremity pain that increases to a 7-out-of-10 with activities. Arredondo also claimed that his total billed medical costs were $15,253.57. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award $20,000 in past medical specials and past pain and suffering, and $30,000 in future pain and suffering. Defense counsel argued that Arredondo only sustained soft-tissue that should have resolved after a few months of treatment. Counsel noted that Arredondo did not go to physical therapy after the recommendation from his primary care physician and that Arredondo retained his attorney about a month after the accident. Defense counsel added that Arredondo only mentioned pain in his lower extremity for the first time after he presented to Community Health Clinic Ole on April 1, 2010. In addition, defense counsel contended that on his follow up visit at Community Health Clinic Ole, Arredondo told the examining physician that he was doing chiropractic treatment, but was not doing physical therapy because his attorney told him he could not do both at the same time.