Steven Olsen is blind and brain damaged because, as a jury ruled, he was a victim of medical negligence when he was two years old. He fell on a stick in the woods while hiking. Under the family's managed care plan, the hospital pumped Steven up with steroids and sent him away with a growing brain abscess, although his parents had asked for a CAT scan because they knew Steven was not well. The next day, Steven Olsen came back to the hospital comatose.

Alex Smick had a wonderful life mapped out for himself.  At 20, he was studying to be a surgical technician.  He was atheltic, played guitar, and had a loving and supportive network of friends and family in his suburban L.A. community of Dowey.  He couldn’t wait to graduate and get a job to start saving money for an engagement ring for his long time girlfriend.

Around their Fresno neighborhood, Daphne McClendon-Ricks was known to all the kids simply as “Mom.”  She was the shoulder to lean on, the unbreakable woman who salved wounds and gave good advice, and the friendly neighbor who helped mow a lawn or gave away vegetables from her bountiful backyard garden.  She was a vigorous 59-year-old except for one health problem: a nagging case of diverticulitis, an ailment of the colon.