Morton

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 which our Supreme Court sought to limit in Thing. They allege that, at the time of their mother’s postoperative treatment, they were “experienced in the medical field and understood and appreciated the dangers faced by their mother” in the event remedial action was not taken. We agree with the trial court that this allegation is insufficient to establish that appellants knew and appreciated the medical circumstances affecting their mother. (Bird v. Saenz (2002) 28 Cal.4th 910, 917-918 [ 123 Cal.Rptr.2d 465 , 51 P.3d 324 ] (Bird).) As we shall explain, their complaint failed to satisfy the second prong…