On June 14, 2010, plaintiff Mitzi Pohl, 54, an unemployed real estate agent, was involved in a broadside collision and was taken by ambulance to the trauma unit of UCSD Medical Center in San Diego. Pohl had lost consciousness after being struck on her driver side door by a sport utility vehicle that had run a red light and caused her vehicle to roll over. At the hospital, she was diagnosed with a slight neck fracture at the C2 level. After regaining consciousness, Pohl complained of left hip pain and underwent an X-ray of her left pelvis, as well as two X-rays of her left hip, which were all negative. She subsequently remained in the hospital overnight and was discharged the following day with a slight limp on her left side. Pohl later returned to the emergency room at UCSD on June 16, 2010, the day after her discharge, with complaints of nausea and vomiting. The medical staff subsequently performed a CT scan of Pohl’s brain, due to a concern that she had a head injury, but it was negative. As a result, Pohl was released the same day. The UCSD medical staff also allegedly told her to follow-up with her primary care doctor in two to three days, or return to the emergency room if her condition worsened. When Pohl continued to experience pain in her left hip, she presented to a non-UCSD doctor, who took X-rays of her back, which were negative. Pohl then returned to the doctor a few weeks later and underwent a CT scan of her left hip, which revealed an occult fracture. She subsequently underwent a pinning procedure on her left hip in July 2010, but it failed to heal the fracture. She the developed avascular necrosis and underwent a total left hip replacement on Nov. 17, 2010. Pohl sued UCSD Medical Center; the medical center’s operator, The Regents of the University of California; and her treating physicians at UCSD Medical Center, Michael Patrick Wilson M.D., Raul Coimbra M.D., Jay J. Doucet M.D., Kavita Chowdary Gorantla M.D., Kama Zeze Guluma M.D., Tudor Hesketh Hughes M.D., and Mark Santman M.D. Pohl claimed that the defendants failed to diagnose her hip fracture and that this failure constituted medical malpractice. Prior to trial, UCSD and all the individual physicians were voluntarily discontinued from the case. Thus, the matter proceeded to trial against The Regents of the University of California only. Pohl claimed that the medical staff at UCSD failed to diagnose her occult hip fracture during her initial stay at the hospital following the motor vehicle accident. She alleged that an MRI or a CT scan should have been performed, since an occult fracture does not appear on an X-ray. Pohl also alleged that the high rate of speed of the broadside collision, resulting in her vehicle rolling over, as well as her diagnosed neck fracture, should have led to a high index of suspicion of a hip injury and a more advanced diagnostic being performed. She further claimed that she complained of left hip pain upon her return to the hospital on June 16, 2010, but that the medical staff failed to take more advanced measures at that time to attempt to diagnose her hip condition. In addition, Pohl claimed that had her hip fracture been diagnosed earlier, she could have had the pinning procedure sooner, which would have been successful, and prevented her subsequent avascular necrosis and total left hip replacement. Regents claimed that the medical staff at UCSD met the standard of care in that the X-ray of Pohl’s pelvis and two X-rays of her left hip were appropriate. It also claimed that there was an insufficient index of suspicion to warrant another diagnostic study and it denied Pohl’s claim that she complained of hip pain when she presented to the emergency room on July 16, 2010. Furthermore, Regents claimed that Pohl failed to follow-up with her primary care doctor two to three days after being discharged on July 16, 2010, as instructed by UCSD medical staff., Pohl was ultimately diagnosed with an occult fracture of her left hip. She subsequently underwent a pinning procedure on her left hip in July 2010. Pohl claimed that after the pinning procedure failed to heal her fracture, she developed avascular necrosis and had to undergo a total left hip replacement on Nov. 17, 2010. She then followed up with physical therapy. Pohl claimed she still experiences pain and discomfort, as well as inflammation, in her left hip. She claimed that as a result, she will require further treatment for bursitis in her left hip. Pohl alleged that she used to be very active, but that her condition has restricted her from running and exercising. Thus, Pohl claimed $12,000 in out-of-pocket past medical costs, and sought further recovery of damages for future medical costs. She also sought recovery of $250,000 in damages for her past and future pain and suffering. Regents’ counsel argued that despite Pohl’s ongoing complaints, she went on vacations following her hip replacement, including going on a hiking trip in Aspen, Colo.