On Feb. 20, 2010, plaintiffs’ decedent Kin Wong, 33, a restaurant owner, presented to Dr. Hew Wah Quon, an internist, at his office in Chinatown. Wong complained of coughing up blood and was examined by Quon, who concluded that it was caused by a ruptured blood vessel or hay fever. Wong then returned to Quon’s office on May 29, 2010, with swollen lymph nodes and further complaints of coughing. Quon subsequently advised Wong to follow up with a health maintenance organization to determine the cause of the swollen lymph nodes. The following day at work, Wong became ill and attempted to drive to a hospital. However, while driving, he called 911 to report that he could not breathe. The paramedics responded to Wong and found him slumped over outside of his car in a pool of his own blood. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Wong’s death was attributed to disseminated tuberculosis with pulmonary cavitation, which caused massive hemoptysis (coughing up blood). The decedent’s parents, Bing Juen Wong and Pui Ying Lee, sued Wong and his practice. The decedent’s parents alleged that Wong’s negligent care on Feb. 20, 2010, and May 29, 2010, constituted medical malpractice and caused their son’s wrongful death. The county of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center were erroneously named in the lawsuit and never served. Thus, the matter proceeded against Wong and his professional corporation only. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the decedent had an increased risk of exposure to tuberculosis and that the decedent presented to Quon with evidence of active tuberculosis disease. Counsel argued that, as such, Quon should have sent the decedent to an emergency room on Feb. 20, 2010, or ordered an emergency chest X-ray. Counsel further argued that, instead, the decedent was never advised to undergo a chest X-ray at the Feb. 20 visit and that Quon told the patient he had nothing to worry about. Plaintiffs’ counsel also contended that Quon did not adequately document the decedent’s physical exam or vital signs on the Feb. 20 visit, and that Quon’s care of the decedent during the May 29 visit was also inadequate in that the decedent should have been sent to an emergency room. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Quon’s negligent care caused the decedent’s death. Quon claimed that during the Feb. 20 visit, he appropriately prescribed Prednisone to the decedent and advised him to undergo a chest X-ray to determine/rule out a pulmonary cause for his symptoms, including tuberculosis. He alleged that he determined a pulmonary cause to be highly unlikely, but wanted the X-ray performed to diagnostically rule it out. Thus, Quon claimed that the Feb. 20 exam was appropriate and that all his actions fell within the standard of care. In addition, the defense’s medical experts opined that the decedent’s death could not have been prevented by the time of the May 29 visit because of the extent of the cavitations that led to his death., Kin Wong called 911 to report that he could not breathe, but when paramedics responded, they found him slumped over in a pool of his own blood. He was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene. His death was attributed to disseminated tuberculosis with pulmonary cavitation that caused massive hemoptysis. The decedent’s parents claimed that their son owned their home, paid their bills, and employed both of them at his restaurant, which has since gone out of business. Thus, they sought economic damages for their loss of the decedent’s financial support. The parents also sought recovery for funeral/burial costs, as well as non-economic wrongful death damages. Plaintiffs’ counsel subsequently asked the jury to award the decedent’s parents in excess of $670,000 in total damages.