On Aug. 9, 2010, plaintiff Rick Villalobos, 52, a self-employed appliance repairman, was stopped at an intersection in Palmdale when he was rear-ended by a vehicle operated by Michael Aranda. Aranda was traveling at approximately 25 miles per hour when he bent down to retrieve a sandwich that had fallen to the floor. As a result, Aranda struck Villalobos, allegedly Villalobos’ chest and back. Villalobos sued Aranda, alleging that Aranda was negligent in the operation of his vehicle. Aranda conceded liability at the time of trial., Following the accident, Villalobos drove himself to an urgent care center, where he complained of pain to his lower back, neck, left shoulder, left hand, and headaches. He was advised to avoid lifting and bending, and to seek physical therapy treatment if his symptoms did not improve. A few days later, Villalobos returned to the urgent care center, claiming his symptoms had worsened. Imaging studies revealed a partial tear of the left pectoralis major muscle, and cervical discs with a possible impingement of both exiting C6 roots at the C5-6 level and an impingement of the left, and possibly the right, exiting C7 roots at the C6-7 level. Imaging of the lumbar spine revealed 4- to 5-millimeter disc protrusions at L4-5 and L5-S1, and a 2- to 3-millimeter disc bulge at L3-4. Villalobos subsequently received physical therapy, and cervical and lumbar epidural injections. Villalobos claimed that treatment provided significant, though temporary, relief, but that he ultimately continued to experience left upper-extremity pain and weakness, as well as intermittent numbness and tingling into the left forearm, hand and fingertips. Thus, he claimed the tear of the pectoralis muscle resulted in a permanent deformity to his chest and left arm. The plaintiff’s expert orthopedic surgeon attributed the pectoralis tear, or partial tear, to the subject collision. Both the plaintiff’s expert orthopedist and expert radiologist testified that Villalobos did have some degenerative changes in his spine, but opined that these changes were made symptomatic in the subject collision. Defense counsel argued that the alleged were either degenerative in nature and/or caused by a subsequent motor vehicle accident that Villalobos had in November 2012. Thus, counsel argued that Villalobos’ alleged were not due to the subject accident.