CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Suit by Parents of Dead Son Rejected

A suit by parents whose child died of an overdose of radiation during cancer treatment has been thrown out by the 1st District Court of Appeal because of new state Supreme Court restrictions on emotional distress suits. Because the parents could not have seen the actual fatal overdose and could not have known the harm it was causing, they cannot seek damages for their own distress at their son’s pain and death, the appeal court ruled. The ruling does not affect a related suit by the parents, Barbara and Dwight Golstein, against Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley for negligence in the death of Dwight Golstein II. The parents have settled suits against the doctor and a cancer foundation involved in the treatment.