On Nov. 6, 2008, the plaintiff was born with Apgar scores of 8/8 following a spontaneous vaginal delivery. A lab test showed a very low platelet level of 26, and a head CT scan showed a massive intracranial bleed. Early that year, the plaintiff’s mother, Adriana Acuna, 32, became pregnant with her third child and sought prenatal care at Clinica Sierra Vista in Bakersfield, which was established by the Department of Health & Human Services for “underserved” areas. Acuna subsequently informed the nurse practitioner at the clinic that her two prior children had been diagnosed with low platelets after birth, but both children were healthy and had no problems. She then continued to see either a nurse practitioner or obstetrician at the clinic between April 2008 and November 2008, without receiving any identification of problems with the pregnancy. On Nov. 5, 2008, Acuna was admitted to the clinic for induction of labor at term. The infant was ultimately delivered by a spontaneous vaginal delivery on Nov. 6, 2008. However, the infant had Apgar scores of 8/8 and a very low platelet level of 26. The next day the baby was transferred to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, where he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, which is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain, and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, which is a disease in which the platelet count is decreased. As a result, the infant suffered a massive intracranial bleed that caused severe neurological and brain damage. Subsequent testing of both parents showed that each parent had a different genotype for platelet antibodies. Acuna, acting as the infant’s guardian ad litem, sued the United States because the employees who provided prenatal care were employed by Clinica Sierra Vista, a community health center covered under the Federally Supported Health Centers Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. § 233(g)-(n). Acuna alleged that the defendant’s employees negligently delivered, examined, treated, cared for, diagnosed, operated upon, attended and otherwise handled and controlled her baby. She further alleged that this negligence constituted medical malpractice. Thus, she alleged that the United States was liable pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act arising under 28 U.S.C. § 2671. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Acuna’s history of having two prior babies with low platelets required testing of both parents for platelet antibodies. Counsel also contended that prenatal diagnosis of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia could be treated with gamma globulin, which would block the mother’s antibodies from attacking the fetal platelets. Thus, counsel contended that the defendant’s employees failed to timely diagnose and treat the infant’s condition resulted in a massive intracranial hemorrhage that left the child with significant cognitive defects., The infant was ultimately diagnosed with hydrocephalus and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, which resulted in a massive intracranial bleed. On Nov. 18, 2008, the infant had a shunt placed for the treatment of hydrocephalus at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica. However, as a result the intracranial bleed and hydrocephalus, the infant suffered severe neurological and brain damage. The infant’s mother claimed that her child suffers from significant cognitive defects, as well as cerebral palsy with mild developmental delay. She alleged that as a result, her son will require daily attendant care for the remainder of his life. Thus, she sought recover of damages for her son’s past and future medical costs, as well as damages for her son’s loss of future earning and earning capacity. Specifically, Acuna claimed that the infant’s past medical care was $59,492, a MediCal lien, and would have future medical care costs of approximately $8 million to $9 million, based on a life expectancy of 60 years. In addition, she claimed that her son’s loss of earnings would be $800,000. Defense counsel contended that the child would have a markedly reduced life expectancy, which would lower the cost for any future medical care. Accordingly, defense counsel contended that based on a life expectancy of 38 years, the infant would only suffer future medical care of $3.5 million and a loss of earnings of $350,000.