Bro

obstetrician nicked the cheek of baby Brittany Bro with his scalpel. There was no permanent physical injury to the baby; nevertheless, the parents commenced the underlying litigation against the doctor, seeking, on behalf of their baby daughter, to recover for medical malpractice and, for their own account, to recover emotional distress damages, arising because of the allegedly negligent manner in which their child was “presented” to them about 30 minutes after her birth.

Because defendant doctor was later wholly absolved of any medical malpractice {infra), this appeal presents for decision whether plaintiff parents are entitled to recover damages for negligent infliction of purely emotional distress where such claim stands alone, i.e., there being no adjunct or concurrent claim, tort or otherwise.

Within the scheme of our analysis and reflecting current authority, Kim Bro, the father, and Donna Bro, the mother (plaintiffs), qualify as “direct victims” because of their “preexisting relationship” with Joseph Glaser, M.D. (defendant). (Burgess v. Superior Court (1992) 2 Cal.4th 1064, 1074 [ 9 Cal.Rptr.2d 615 , 831 P.2d 1197 ] [Burgess].) Despite plaintiffs’ being direct…