On June 20, 2014, Theresa Kapelewski, 48, a field data collector, was a passenger in a rental vehicle driven by a co-worker on Huntington Drive, in Los Angeles. The vehicle’s driver abruptly stopped after encountering a pedestrian. A pickup truck traveling behind her then rear-ended her vehicle. Kapelewski alleged to her neck, back, and left thumb, shoulder and hip. Kapelewski sued the driver of the pickup truck, Mario Veliz; the owner of the pickup truck, Veliz’s employer, Quality Control Plating Inc.; and owner of Quality Control, Kamla Mona Singh. Kapelewski alleged that Veliz was negligent in the operation of the pickup truck and that Singh and Quality Control was negligent for entrusting the vehicle to Veliz. Since Kapelewski was in the course and scope of her employment at the time of the accident, she brought a separate workers’ compensation claim against her employer’s insurer, Twin Cities Fire Insurance Co. Twin Cities then filed a complaint in intervention against the defendants. However, Twin Cities dismissed its complaint in intervention prior to trial without receiving any payment. Singh and Twin City were ultimately let out of the case prior to trial, and the matter continued against Veliz and Quality Control only. The only non-party witness was the driver of Kapelewski’s vehicle, but she did not testify at trial. Kapelewski claimed that claimed the driver of her vehicle stopped for a pedestrian crossing the road near a stop sign and that neither she nor her driver saw Veliz until the time of impact. She also claimed that Veliz was traveling at a high rate of speed, was following too close and was distracted by his cell phone. The plaintiff’s accident reconstruction expert testified that, based off of the damage incurred to the rental vehicle, Veliz was traveling at 40 to 75 mph, above the posted 35 mph speed limit. The expert further opined that due to the speed of Veliz’s vehicle, Veliz was unable to stop in time. Veliz admitted that the driver of Kapelewski’s vehicle told him that she stopped for a pedestrian and/or a nearby stop sign and that Kapelewski claimed the driver stopped for a pedestrian crossing near a stop sign. However, Veliz claimed he did not see a pedestrian. As a result, Veliz claimed the driver of Kapelewski’s vehicle was entirely at fault for the accident because she stopped mid-block for no reason. The defense’s biomechanical expert submitted a report, opining that if Veliz had been traveling over the 35 mph speed limit, Kapelewski’s vehicle would have been more damaged., Following the accident, Kapelewski and her co-worker each called their spouses, who picked them up and drove them to Burbank Urgent Care, where Kapelewski was X-rayed, administered pain medication and released the same day. Approximately one week later, Kapelewski followed up with her primary care practitioner, an internal medicine expert, in Ohio. Her physician referred her to an orthopedist. Kapelewski was diagnosed with herniated cervical discs at C3-4 and C6-7, a wedge compression fracture of the thoracic spine at the T6 level, and 3-millimeter herniated lumbar discs at L3-4 and L5-S1. She also claimed she suffered a misalignment of her left, non-dominant thumb, resulting in paresthesia; discomfort in her in her left hip; and sleep disturbances as a result of the accident. The plaintiff’s treating internal medicine expert, her primary care physician, testified about how he’d known Kapelewski for 10 years and about how she always presented as healthy before the accident. He also testified that Kapelewski never complained about left hand problems, nor cervical, lumbar or thoracic pain before the accident. The expert further opined that when Kapelewski presented to him following the accident, her pain was severe. On Feb. 4, 2015, Kapelewski underwent an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion at the C6-7 level. Almost one year later, on Feb. 17, 2016, she underwent a resection of her left thumb with ligament reconstruction. She also underwent physical therapy both before and after the surgeries. In total, Kapelewski underwent nearly 100 physical therapy sessions. The plaintiff’s spinal and hand surgeons opined that Kapelewski’s were acute and traumatic, which implied that they were caused by the accident. Kapelewski claimed that she used to travel a lot for her career, but that she could no longer do so. She also claimed she could no longer drive for long periods of time. As a result, she claimed she could no longer work. Kapelewski further claimed that chores were difficult and that her affected her relationship with her husband. In addition, she claimed she would need to undergo cervical and lumbar surgeries in the future. Kapelewski claimed an economic loss of $905 a month for the rest of her life. She also sought recovery of $1,893,334 in non-economic damages for her past pain and suffering and $3,258,160 in non-economic damages for her future pain and suffering. Kapelewski’s husband, Gregory Kapelewski, claimed that he now has to take care of his wife in ways that he didn’t before. He sought recovery for his loss of consortium. Plaintiffs’ counsel asked the jury to award the Kapelewskis between $5,379,494 and $5,400,494 in total damages. Defense counsel argued that Ms. Kapelewski’s were degenerative in nature and that, if anything, the accident aggravated them. Counsel also argued that Ms. Kapelewski had pre-existing arthritis in her left hand. The defense’s neuroradiology expert presented MRIs that were taken a few months after the accident and explained how the discs in the MRIs were darker in color. The expert opined that the dark color indicated that the discs were desiccated and that the condition took years to develop. The expert also opined that the MRIs showed osteophytes, which takes years to develop. Based on his findings, the expert concluded that Kapelewski’s were not acute.