On May 3, 2012, plaintiff Jamie Aponte, a pharmacy assistant, underwent a dilation and curettage by Dr. Helena Mba, an Ob/Gyn. Aponte previously had a miscarriage on April 29, 2012, and had presented to Mba for advice. As a result, she underwent the D&C and then returned to Mba for a follow-up visit on May 11, 2012. Aponte was at work on May 15, 2012, when she went into labor and ejected a fully formed 14-week-old fetus, connected by umbilical cord, into the toilet. She was subsequently rushed to a hospital, the cord was cut and the fetus separated. Later that day, Aponte passed placental tissue and a repeat D&C had to be performed on May 16, 2012. Aponte sued Mba and her medical office, Helen Mba, M.D., Inc., which was doing business asMoreno Valley Women’s & Family Clinic Medical Corp. Aponte alleged that the defendants negligently treated her and that this negligence constituted medical malpractice. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Mba missed 100 percent of the deceased fetus during the D&C on May 3, 2012. Counsel also contended that even though the pathology report from the procedure was made available to Mba on May 6, 2012, Mba never advised Aponte that the pathology report established that no fetal parts had been extracted. Plaintiff’s counsel further contended that on Aponte’s follow-up visit, Mba failed to alert Aponte that there was a possibility that there were retained fetal products of conception. In fact, Aponte claimed that when she was rushed to the hospital on May 15, 2012, the hospital staff did not believe she had a D&C. Defense counsel argued that the pathology report was consistent with Mba’s belief that the fetus had passed prior to the subject D&C, without Aponte being aware of it. Counsel contended that Mba informed Aponte that there was a possibility of retained products and that she sent Aponte for a blood pregnancy test, which would have revealed whether retained products were in the womb. However, counsel contended that Aponte did not have the test immediately done and that it did not give a result until after the fetus passed. In addition, defense counsel contended that, before passing the fetus, Aponte did not call Mba to ever report increasing symptoms, which Aponte claimed felt “like labor pains.”, On May 15, 2012, Aponte was rushed to a hospital, where the fetus was removed. She then underwent a repeat D&C the following day. Aponte claimed she suffers emotional distress as a result of incident. However, she did not undergo any counseling. Thus, Aponte sought recovery of general damages for her emotional distress. Her husband, Robert Anaya, sought recovery of damages for his loss of consortium. Defense counsel contended that because Aponte suffered an earlier miscarriage 12 years prior to the subject procedure, her emotional distress damages would have been minimal, as she had experienced the passing of fetal tissue before. In addition, defense counsel noted that after filing suit, Aponte conceived and delivered triplets.