On Aug. 6, 2015, plaintiff Mallory Weldon, 31, a swim instructor who was almost 19 weeks pregnant, underwent an ultrasonography at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, in Los Angeles, where she was receiving her prenatal care. The ultrasonography was performed by an attending physician specializing in maternal-fetal medicine, and who had completed her fellowship two years earlier and was not yet Board certified. The test’s results were interpreted as normal. Weldon underwent another ultrasonography at 36 weeks. This time, the attending physician became concerned about the size-date discrepancy of the fetus’s long bones (femur and humeri). As a result, Weldon was referred to another MFM specialist, who diagnosed the fetus as having skeletal dysplasia, a medical term for what many people refer to as dwarfism. Weldon and her husband were told that skeletal dysplasia was not a lethal condition and that there was no reason they could not have a normal delivery. They were also advised of their options, including a second opinion and adoption. Weldon and her husband requested a referral for termination. However, since it is not legal to terminate a fetus after 24 weeks in California without a lethal condition, Weldon was referred to a clinic in New Mexico, where she underwent fetal euthanasia at 37 weeks. The baby’s body was transferred back to UCLA Medical Center for a research study to determine the baby’s type of skeletal dysplasia. The study was supervised by Dr. Deborah Krakow, a geneticist and MFM specialist at UCLA, who is an expert in skeletal dysplasia. Weldon sued the employer of the attending MFM physician, The Regents of the University of California, and Weldon’s general obstetrician, who referred her for the ultrasonographies, Dr. Erica Oberman. Weldon alleged that the defendants failed to timely diagnose the fetus’s condition or timely consult with a specialist and that these failures constituted medical malpractice. Oberman was dismissed from the case on the first day of trial. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that there was a failure to diagnose skeletal dysplasia at the anatomy scan at almost 19 weeks and that, had the diagnosis been made, Weldon and her husband would have made the decision to terminate the pregnancy before 24 weeks, rather than not being given that option until when the diagnosis was made at 36 weeks. Weldon’s expert ultrasonographer, who was a maternal-fetal medicine expert licensed in France, did not testify as to the standard of care, as she was not a licensed physician in the United States, and, therefore, only testified regarding the interpretation of the ultrasonography at almost 19 weeks. She opined that there were too many femur lengths taken during the subject ultrasonography and that the best measurements taken were the ones that were the shortest, so those are what should have been used. The expert further opined that, based on the measurements taken, skeletal dysplasia should have been diagnosed at that time. Weldon’s expert obstetrician opined that there were enough questions about the ultrasonography at almost 19 weeks that the standard of care required the MFM physician who performed that test to refer Weldon to “the very best MFM she knew of” (referring to Krakow), in two weeks and that had the MFM physician done so, the new MFM physician would have made the diagnosis by 21 weeks gestation, and Weldon would have had the abortion before 24 weeks. The MFM physician who interpreted the ultrasonography at almost 19 weeks testified that she told Weldon and Weldon’s husband about the limitations of the ultrasonography, including the fact that there were certain anomalies, including skeletal dysplasia, that couldn’t be diagnosed at that stage of pregnancy. However, Weldon disputed that either she or her husband was provide that information. Defense counsel contended that the MFM physician who performed the anatomy scan at almost 19 weeks met the standard of care in performing the ultrasonography and that it was a normal scan. Counsel also contended that skeletal dysplasia is usually a third-trimester diagnosis, as it was in this case, and that it could not have been diagnosed earlier than it was diagnosed. Defense counsel called Krakow to testify as a fact witness. She testified that the type of skeletal dysplasia that Weldon’s baby had was a third-trimester diagnosis. The defense’s expert in maternal and fetal medicine opined that the ultrasonography at almost 19 weeks was a normal anatomy scan and that there was nothing about it, including the femur-length measurements, that would lead a reasonably careful MFM specialist to suspect skeletal dysplasia. He testified that the more-than-28-minute scan, which was shown to the jury during the direct testimony of the attending MFM physician, was the most thorough test he had ever seen, and opined that the “short” measurements of the femur were due to the positioning of the baby’s leg, and not because the baby’s leg was short at that time., Weldon claimed she suffered the pain, suffering and embarrassment of having prepared for a normal delivery and having to, instead, undergo a termination in New Mexico, where she had to cross the picket lines at the abortion clinic to have the termination. Weldon sought recovery of damages for her past and future pain and suffering. Weldon’s husband, Justin Weldon, sought recovery for his loss of consortium and for negligent infliction of emotional distress, but his claims were dismissed by motion for summary judgment before trial.