On Feb. 6, 2011, plaintiff Jose Cardona, 59, a welder, made a left turn onto 47th Street East, near the intersection with Fort Tejon Road, also known as State Route 138, in Palmdale. His wife, plaintiff Irene Cardona, 53, was a front seat passenger in the Ford Taurus and his son, plaintiff Eduardo Cardona, 22, was a rear-seat passenger. While the Taurus was traveling south on 47th Street East, a northbound Ford Explorer operated by Galdino Navarro Cortes lost control and crossed into the Cardonas’ lane of travel, striking the Ford Taurus head-on. Jose Cardona sustained multiple fractures and an alleged brain injury. His son suffered a knee fracture and an abdominal injury, resulting in internal bleeding. Irene Cardona suffered a wrist fracture and an alleged brain injury. The Cardonas sued Cortes, alleging that Cortes was negligent in the operation of his sport utility vehicle. Specifically, the Cardonas claimed that Cortes was intoxicated and caused the crash. The plaintiff’s biomechanics expert testified that Cortes was traveling approximately 50 mph at the time of impact and that the Cardonas’ car was traveling between 15 and 20 mph. Cortes conceded liability., The Cardonas were transported by ambulance to an emergency room at a nearby hospital. Jose Cardona was diagnosed with multiple fractures to both legs, including a right ankle fracture and bilateral patellar fractures. He was also given a 15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale. During trauma surgery, Jose Cardona required the removal of his right talus bone and the repair of a fibula fracture. Two days later, he underwent surgery to repair meniscus tears in both knees, as well as repair the major fractures in his right tibia and both patellas. Jose Cardona also sustained a tear of the rotator cuff in his right, dominant shoulder. Jose Cardona claimed that he now has pain and fatigue while ambulating. He alleged that as a result, is unable to walk without the assistance of a walker or a wheelchair. He was also diagnosed with cerebral damage, resulting in cognitive deficits years after the accident. As a result, Jose Cardona suffers from slurred speech, blurred vision, tremors, dizziness, anxiety, depression, unpredictable moods, loss of concentration, memory problems, and headaches. He also is allegedly left with worsening dysarthria, which causes facial numbness, tingling, and difficulty swallowing. Thus, Jose Cardona claimed that he has never made a fully recovery and that he has not been able to return to work since the accident. Irene Cardona suffered numerous abrasions to her legs and chest, and a head injury that allegedly causes persistent headaches and blurred vision. Her head injury was ultimately diagnosed as a traumatic brain injury. Irene Cardona was also diagnosed with a complex fracture of the right wrist, requiring open reduction and internal fixation surgery on the date of the accident. She claimed that her wrist bones are now fused and that her pain never went away. As a result, hardware from the surgery was removed in October 2014. Irene Cardona claimed that despite the surgeries, she continues to suffer pain radiating from her wrist into her right arm and shoulder. She was ultimately diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome, also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy or causalgia, a chronic pain condition. She alleged that the severity of her chronic pain even causes her to lose consciousness. Eduardo Cardona was admitted to the hospital with lacerations to his chest, bruising on his legs, and swollen ankles. He was also determined to have sustained a rupture of the abdominal wall, resulting in internal bleeding and causing anemia due to the blood loss. As a result, he required an emergency laparotomy and surgical repair of a complex abdominal wall hernia. Eduardo Cardona later developed an intestinal blockage, requiring another surgical intervention. As a result of his and surgeries, Eduardo Cardona was left with a large scar on his stomach. He also claimed that he continues to suffer abdominal pain. Although he was hospitalized for six days and had to drop out of trade school, he was ultimately able to return to school, graduate, and work full time since 2012. As a result, he is able to provide his parents with additional care due to the severity of their . Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel asked the jury to award $33,547,067 for Jose Cardona’s total damages and $16,050,183 for Irene Cardona’s total damages. Counsel left Eduardo Cardona’s damages to the discretion of the jury. Defense counsel strongly contested the nature and extent of the plaintiffs’ alleged . Specifically, defense counsel denied that Jose Cardona suffered any cognitive deficits from a head injury. Counsel also disputed Irene Cardona’s alleged CRPS. While the defense’s expert orthopedic surgeon denied Irene Cardona’s alleged CRPS, the defense’s neurological expert found that she did suffer from the condition.