On Jan. 27, 2013, plaintiffs’ decedent Shauna Kemp, 42, a part-time social worker, called a phone help line operated by Kaiser Foundation and spoke with an advice nurse employed by the Permanente Medical Group Inc. Kemp reported that she had a fever, and was suffering from chills, a sore throat, and severe chest pain. She then called back the next day and spoke with another advice nurse who routed the call to a physician. During the approximately four-minute conversation, the physician diagnosed Kemp with influenza. Kemp again called the phone help line on Jan. 29, 2013. This time she was told to come in to be examined in person by a physician. Kemp was ultimately admitted to a Kaiser hospital, but she died the next day, on Jan. 30, 2013. The cause of death was determined to be sepsis secondary to pneumonia. The decedent’s husband (Andreas Kemp) and two minor daughters (Mara Kemp and Carly Kemp, ages 4 and 2, respectively) sued Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and the Permanente Medical Group Inc. The Kemp family alleged that the defendants failed to timely diagnose and treat the decedent’s pneumonia and that the defendants’ failures constituted medical malpractice. The matter proceeded to arbitration. Plaintiffs’ counsel maintained that the decedent contacted Permanente employees at the Kaiser-operated phone help line three times during the three days prior to her death and that each time the decedent reported worsening symptoms of a fever, chills, a sore throat, and severe chest pain, all which are symptoms consistent with pneumonia. Counsel contended that the decedent spoke with a nurse during the calls on Jan. 27, 2013 and Jan. 28, 2013, and that during the Jan. 28, 2013 call, the decedent was routed to a physician, who attempted to diagnose the decedent during a brief conversation rather than having the decedent examined in-person. Plaintiffs’ counsel further contended that the physician incorrectly diagnosed the decedent with the “flu” after an approximate four-minute conversation, during which the decedent allegedly told the physician that she was experiencing chest pain. Counsel subsequently produced recordings made by the defendants of the decedent’s conversations with the help line nurses, during which the decedent reported that she was having chest pain. However, plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that it was Kaiser’s policy to not make the information provided to the nurses on the help line available to physicians, which contributed to the delay in diagnosis. Thus, counsel asserted that when the physician spoke to the decedent on Jan. 28, 2013, the physician was unaware of the worsening symptoms previously reported by the decedent to the nurses. The plaintiffs’ medical experts testified that the standard of care would have called for an immediate exam by a physician at the time of the decedent’s second call. The experts opined that an in-person exam by the evening of Jan. 28, 2013 would have produced a correct diagnosis in time for treatment to save the decedent’s life. However, the experts testified that by the time the decedent was finally seen on the morning of Jan. 29, 2013, it was too late to reverse her untreated pneumonia, which led to septic shock. Defense counsel, through his medical experts, asserted that the standard of care did not require a physical examination based on the symptoms reported by the decedent during the calls on Jan. 27, 2013 and Jan. 28, 2013. Counsel also maintained that the decedent did not report her chest pain to the physician during the call on Jan. 28, 2013, which prevented the physician from making the proper diagnosis. The defense’s medical experts opined that the decedent had contracted an unusually fast-acting stain of pneumonia and that if the decedent had been examined on or before Jan. 28, 2013, her condition would not have appeared life-threatening. Thus, the experts further opined that the decedent would have most likely been sent home with an antibiotic prescription and that this would not have been sufficient to save the decedent’s life., Shauna Kemp suffered from pneumonia, resulting in a fever, chills, a sore throat, and severe chest pain. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that Kemp had complained that her symptoms were worsening and that by the time Kemp was hospitalized, she was suffering from sepsis, resulting in her death on Jan. 30, 2013. The decedent was 42. She is survived by her husband and two daughters, ages 4 and 2. The Kemp family claimed that the decedent had planned to return to full-time work when her youngest daughter entered kindergarten in the fall of 2015. Thus, the plaintiffs’ economic expert opined that the Kemp family’s economic losses totaled $3,058,262 for the loss of the decedent’s support and household services. The family also sought recovery of non-economic damages, which MICRA capped at $250,000. Defense counsel disputed the amount of damages alleged. The defense’s economic expert opined that the decedent would have likely returned to full-time work later than the date alleged and that she would have likely retired earlier than date assumed by the plaintiffs’ economist.