On July 19, 2014, plaintiff Rene Bravo, 49, a box designer for a packaging company, was operating a sport utility vehicle in downtown Los Angeles when his vehicle was rear-ended by a pickup truck operated by Arturo Garcia. Bravo sustained of the lower back. Bravo sued Garcia, alleging Garcia was negligent in the operation of his vehicle. Garcia admitted liability., Bravo claimed he suffered a 5 to 6 millimeter lumbar disc bulge at the L4-5 level and a 6 to 7 millimeter lumbar disc bulge at the L5-S1 level, resulting in chronic lower back pain. He sought medical care about two weeks after the accident, and underwent seven months of orthopedic evaluation, physical therapy and chiropractic care. Bravo claimed he had constant pain in his lower back with flare-ups. However, he acknowledged that he did not miss any days from work because he sits behind a desk. Bravo waived his claim for past medical costs, but sought recovery for his alleged future medical treatment, including the need for conservative treatment, such as epidurals, radiofrequency ablations, and other surgical remedies, including microdecompression surgery and a lumbar fusion. He also sought recovery for his past and future pain and suffering. Defense counsel noted that Bravo had a gap in treatment of approximately two years, during which Bravo had no injections or any other conservative treatment. Counsel also argued that Bravo only sustained sprain and strain , which should have resolved.