On the morning of Sept. 29, 2014, plaintiff’s decedent Robert Hitchcock, 54, a self-employed contractor, contacted Dr. William Aiello, a plastic surgeon whom he had been friends with for over 20 years, regarding persistent pain in his neck, back, and a shoulder and upper arm. Hitchcock had previously had multiple telephone conversations with Aiello during the week of Sept. 22, 2014. Hitchcock had informed Aiello about his complaints and claimed that the pain had not resolved with the use of over-the-counter medication and rest. Thus, at the time of the telephone conversation on Sept. 29, 2014, Aiello prescribed a powerful narcotic, Vicoprofen, and a muscle relaxant, Soma. Hitchcock did not come in to Aiello’s office for an examination at that time and he had never been previously treated in Aiello’s office either. A few days later, Hitchcock and some friends traveled to Needles for a Celebration of Life event following the death of a family friend. Significant amounts of alcohol were consumed at the event before Hitchcock went to bed at 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 3, 2014. The following morning, friends discovered Hitchcock in bed, having passed away at some point over the course of the night. A medical examiner performed an autopsy, which revealed that Hitchcock had an enlarged heart as well as modest coronary artery disease. The toxicology lab studies also revealed a blood alcohol content of .13 percent and therapeutic levels of the Vicoprofen and Soma. The issued autopsy report concluded that the primary cause of death was cardiac in nature, but with contribution from the “combination of drug and alcohol toxicity.” The decedent’s daughter, plaintiff Taylor Hitchcock, sued Aiello and Aiello’s medical office, Ocean Plastic Surgery Center. Ms. Hitchcock alleged that the defendants were negligent in the treatment of her father and in issuing the prescriptions for her father’s medications. She alleged that this negligence constituted medical malpractice and caused her father’s wrongful death. Ocean Plastic Surgery Center was voluntarily dismissed before trial. Thus, the matter continued against Aiello only. The plaintiff’s pathology expert, who was the medical examiner who performed the autopsy and issued the autopsy report, testified about his findings and the basis for his conclusions regarding the cause of death. He also testified about how he determination that the “combination of drug and alcohol toxicity” contributed to Mr. Hitchcock’s death. Plaintiff’s counsel conceded that Mr. Hitchcock bore blame for his death because he drank alcohol while on the pain medication. However, counsel also argued that Aiello was wrong in prescribing the medicine in the absence of an actual physical exam. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel argued that Aiello and Mr. Hitchcock were both to blame for Mr. Hitchcock’s death. The plaintiff’s internal medicine expert noted that California law precludes a physician from issuing a prescription for medication — particularly narcotic medication — to an individual without a face-to-face patient encounter and a good faith physical examination prior to issuing the prescription. On that basis, the expert opined that it was below the standard of care for Aiello to have issued the prescriptions to Mr. Hitchcock without first performing an examination. The defense’s plastic surgery expert opined that Aiello had gathered all pertinent medical information over the phone from Mr. Hitchcock to determine that the prescriptions for Vicoprofen and Soma were indicated and appropriate and that the telephone communications did, in fact, satisfy the patient examination required by California law. Moreover, the expert pointed out that even in retrospect, there were no medical conditions present that would have made the prescriptions contraindicated if a face-to-face examination had taken place. The defense’s pathology and cardiac pharmacology experts both testified that the cause of death was indeed primarily cardiac in nature, but opined that the event was triggered by the binge consumption of alcohol. The two experts explained that there was no drug “toxicity” in this case, as all medications were at therapeutic levels and did not trigger any type of cardiac event. Aiello claimed that he advised his friend at the time he issued the prescriptions that the medications should not be taken with alcohol. Thus, defense counsel argued that Hitchcock caused his own death by consuming alcohol while taking the prescribed medications., Mr. Hitchcock suffered a cardiac event, which was allegedly triggered by the consumption of medication and alcohol. He subsequently died on Oct. 4, 2014. The decedent, 54, was survived by his daughter, Taylor Hitchcock, then 26, and a son, who declined to be involved in the lawsuit. Ms. Hitchcock claimed that as a result of her father’s death, she will live the rest of her life without her father’s love, guidance and support. Thus, Ms. Hitchcock sought recovery of non-economic damages for the wrongful death of her father. Specifically, she sought recovery of damages for the loss of her father’s love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, moral support, and parental guidance. (She made no claim for special damages.)