Between June 2005 and 2007, plaintiff Edyln Burk-Soorani, 61, did not know where her mother, Beatrice Burk, was staying. Beatrice Burk was previously diagnosed with severe dementia in November 2004, and was in and out of hospitals. She was then admitted to a nursing facility in 2005, but Burk-Soorani claimed that her sisters, Celine Burk Simon and Francesca Gasaway, refused to disclose their mother’s location and denied her access to their mother. Burk-Soorani ultimately hired a private investigator, who located Beatrice Burk in 2007. Burk-Soorani claimed that she was then allowed limited access to her mother. In December 2008, Beatrice Burk came under the care of Dr. Kelly Yepremian, and, over the next two months, she was treated at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, in Burbank; The Rehabilitation Centre of Beverly Hills, in Los Angeles; and Olympia Medical Center, in Los Angeles. However, Beatrice Burk died in February 2009. Burk-Soorani sued her sisters, Celine Burk Simon and Francesca Gasaway; Dr. Kelly Yepremian; the operator of Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, Providence Health System-Southern Calif.; other facilities that treated Beatrice Burk, Aspire Home Healthcare Inc. and Sunrise Senior Living Inc.; and Beatrice Burk’s other doctors and caregivers, Dr. Robert Simon, Dr. Krystyan McNicolls, Beth Zaide, and Dr. Lester Zackler. Burk-Soorani alleged that the actions of the defendant health care providers were negligent in the medical care and treatment for her mother and that this treatment constituted elder abuse, resulting in her mother’s wrongful death. She also alleged that Providence Health System and her sisters wrongfully denied her access to her mother. Prior to trial, the elder abuse claim was found to have no standing. In addition, several defendants’ motions for summary judgment were granted, including that of Aspire Home Healthcare, Sunrise Senior Living, Zaide, Zackler, McNicolls, and Dr. Robert Simon. Thus, the matter proceeded to trial on the issues of wrongful death due to medical negligence as to Yepremian, and intentional infliction of emotional distress as to Providence Health System and Burk-Soorani’s sisters. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that after Beatrice Burk was treated improperly after she was diagnosed with severe dementia in November 2004, in that Beatrice Burk was not placed in a dementia unit and, instead, she was in and out of hospitals. Counsel also contended that Burk-Soorani became acutely concerned over her mother’s care and treatment since 2004, as she felt it was improper and medically negligent for Beatrice Burk’s son-in-law to have helped Beatrice Burk execute an Advance Healthcare Directive, which gave specific instructions regarding her end-of-life care. Burk-Soorani, who was not the surrogate decision maker appointed by her mother, did not agree with her mother’s end-of-life healthcare decisions. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that as a result, Burk-Soorani’s sisters, Celine Burk Simon and Francesca Gasaway, put their mother in a nursing facility, but concealed the location from Burk-Soorani until she hired an investigator. Thus, counsel contended that Burk-Soorani did not know where her mother was, and was denied access to her mother, between June 2005 and 2007. Burk-Soorani claimed that once she was allowed limited access to her mother, her visitations were often blocked, or were awkward or uncomfortable, up until her mother’s death. Specifically, Burk-Soorani claimed that she was not allowed to visit her mother as a patient at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, and that certain nursing staff and others had threatened her with arrest if she set foot on the hospital’s premises. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the estate of Beatrice Burk was originally divided equally amongst all of the sisters, but that during the two years Burk-Soorani was not told of where her mother was, the apportionment amounts were changed so that Burk-Soorani was to receive little, if anything, from the estate. Counsel added that Burk-Soorani has not received anything from the estate to date. As to the wrongful death claim against Yepremian, Burk-Soorani claimed that her mother’s medical care was below the standard of care and was a substantial factor in her demise. Defense counsel contended that Burk-Soorani came to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center on three separate occasions and was allowed to visit her mother, but that Burk-Soorani became verbally abusive to the hospital’s staff and was disruptive to the unit. Specifically, counsel contended that Burk-Soorani and her husband were escorted from the hospital premises one evening as a result of a disturbance they had created on one of the medical units. Defense counsel further asserted that there was a long-standing history of disputes between the sisters regarding their mother’s care and that Beatrice Burk left a large estate in trust, which was the focus of Burk-Soorani’s efforts to recover damages. In response, Burk-Soorani claimed there was no disturbance at the hospital nor was there any evidence of any disturbance caused by her. She also denied being verbally abusive to the hospital’s staff or being disruptive to the unit, and alleged there was no evidence of those claims., Burk-Soorani claimed that she suffered years of emotional distress due to her sisters’ actions. She also claimed that since she was denied access to her mother, she suffered a loss of relationship with her mother, which was exacerbated by the conduct of staff at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. Defense counsel asserted that Burk-Soorani had no real relationship with her mother for some time prior to the alleged denial of access to her mother.