Posted on 09/09/2004 8:20:11 PM PDT by Lizavetta
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The wife and daughter of actor John Ritter, who collapsed and died suddenly of heart problems a year ago, have sued the hospital where he was treated, claiming that doctors misdiagnosed his condition.
Ritter, 54, collapsed on the set of his series "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter" on Sept. 12 last year and died the same day in a Burbank hospital across from the studio where he had been working. The cause of death was given as a tearing of a major coronary artery stemming from a condition he never knew he had.
Ritter's wife Amy Yasbeck and their four children filed a wrongful death and medical malpractice suit on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that hospital doctors "caused the untimely death ... by misdiagnosing his condition and as a consequence, failing to provide proper treatment in connection with an ascending aortic aneurysm that would have saved his life."
The lawsuit says that Ritter was initially diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction and then with pericardial tamponade. He actually had a large ascending aortic aneurysm.
Yasbeck and her children are asking for unspecified general damages, wrongful death damages, medical expenses and funeral expenses.
The hospital, Providence St Joseph Medical Center, said in a statement that it was premature to comment on the suit.
"When Mr Ritter was originally admitted to our hospital, his family asked that no information on his illness be released by the hospital. We will continue to honor this request. We extend our deepest and most sincere sympathy to the Ritter family for their loss," the hospital added.
Ritter was best known for his portrayal of Jack Tripper in the 1970s sitcom "Three's Company." He was also a frequent guest star on television shows and a performer on Broadway.
Perhaps John Edwards will drop from the ticket to take on this case.
BTTT
I don't think there is a whole heck of a lot you can do about this condition regardless of when you diagnose it correctly. This suit probably isn't going very far.
Heck, if he can do it, if Kerry loses the race maybe Edwards can channel Ritter on the TV show and revive his character!
-PJ
I have to disagree. When I used to work as a nurse in cardiovascular intensive care it was not uncommon to have patients that were admitted through the emergency room and found to have what Ritter had. The key to survival is rapid diagnoses and straight into surgery.
Wow. Real live ambulance chasers.
Oh boy.
You beat me to it superstar!
Unbelievable. The family of a guy who made millions of dollars for them and still they sue for more. Can't they have the decency to bury the poor guy on their own dime? I mean, they'll still have plenty left over to spend the rest of their lives sipping coffee on the French Riviera.
No wonder our health insurance is so damn high.
Damn, he died in the same hospital where I was born.
True to form, the leftcoast wants someone else to pay.
Stuff happens. Deal with it.
I never understood the whole John Ritter thing. He was an actor. Had a couple of shows. I never thought he was the king of comedy or anything close.
He dies. It's tragic.
But, all of the post-mortem on and on......
C'mon.....
So, only if Ritter was poor a proper malpractice case would be warranted?
No, not even then.
If the family truly believes they lost their husband and father due to malfeasnace,should they just lay down and take it?
Can I As a man sue his wife for aggravating his condition?
malfeasance
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