On Aug. 23, 2007, plaintiffs’ decedent Barbara Kastan, 52, a homemaker, presented to Moores Cancer Center in San Diego to see Surgical Oncologist Sarah Lynn Blair, M.D., for a new mass that was present in her left breast. Kastan had a strong history of breast cancer in her family, as her mother, her grandmother and 12 great-aunts all had breast cancer. However, she had a negative mammography and ultrasound. Kastan then returned to see Blair 18 months later and it was discovered that Kastan had Stage IV breast cancer. Subsequently, Kastan passed away in December 2010. Patrick Uriell, acting individually and as his wife’s successor in interest, and Robert Kastan, acting as the guardian ad litem to the decedent’s minor children, John and Alana Uriell, sued Blair and the hospital’s operator, Regents of the University of California. They alleged that the defendants failed to timely diagnose Barbara Kastan’s cancer in 2007 and that this failures constituted medical malpractice. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that even though a negative mammogram and ultrasound were returned in 2007, Blair should have ordered an MRI or performed a tissue biopsy. In addition, counsel contended that Blair only told Barbara Kastan to follow up with her regular physician for a regular screening and mammography. Blair contended that that there was no reason for an MRI or biopsy when Barbara Kastan presented to her in 2007 because the mass was a cyst. She also contended that there was no reason to perform a biopsy in the area of the cyst and that Kastan did not meet the risk criteria for an MRI. Blair claimed that she assumed Kastan would attend genetic counseling, as recommended, to establish a better calculation of her lifetime risk of getting breast cancer and that after attending genetic counseling, Kastan may have met the criteria for an MRI, which may or may not have discovered cancer in her breast at that time. Defense counsel contended that Kastan had a very rare type of Luminal B cancer, which was multifocal and microscopic at the time she presented to Blair in 2007. Counsel also contended that the cancer was subclinical and may or may not have shown up on any imaging study. Thus, counsel argued that Blair properly referred Kastan to genetic counseling, which Kastan chose not to pursue., In February 2009, Barbara Kastan was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer, which had metastasized to her lungs, bones and heart. She subsequently underwent chemotherapy and hormonal therapies, but it was allegedly too late for treatment. Kastan passed away in December 2010. She was 55. Kastan was survived by her husband and two minor children. Both the plaintiffs’ and defense’s oncology experts opined that Kastan’s cancer was so widespread in 2009 that it would have been diagnosed as Stage IV in 2007. However, only the plaintiffs’ oncology expert testified that the decedent’s lifespan would have been extended with earlier treatment. Specifically, the plaintiffs’ expert oncologist opined that Kastan’s lifespan could have been extended by 10 years. Kastan’s family sought recovery of wrongful death damages and damages for the loss of household services. The defense’s oncology expert and the decedent’s treating physician opined that regardless of whether or not Kastan’s cancer had been diagnosed in 2007, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, she still would have passed away in 2010.