Morton v. Thousand Oaks Surgical Hospital

Opinion

PERREN, J.

In Thing v. La Chusa, our Supreme Court narrowed its holding in Dillon v. Legg and limited the scope of claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED). Its avowed purpose in doing so was to “avoid limitless liability out of all proportion to the degree of a defendant’s negligence, and against which it is impossible to insure without imposing unacceptable costs on those among whom the risk is spread . . . .” (Thing, supra, 48 Cal.3d at p. 664.) In this action for NIED purportedly arising from medical malpractice, appellants seek to expand the scope of liability…