Nicole DeHuff, an actress who played Teri Polo's sister in Meet the Parents, has died of causes related to pneumonia. She was 30.Posted on 03/11/2005 12:23:10 PM PST by crushelits
Nicole DeHuff, an actress who played Teri Polo's sister in Meet the Parents, has died of causes related to pneumonia. She was 30.
The actress died Feb. 16 in Hollywood, four days after she reportedly checked into a Los Angeles hospital, was misdiagnosed and sent home with orders to take Tylenol.
When her condition worsened, she returned to the hospital and was prescribed antibiotics for bronchitis and again sent home. Two days later, paramedics were called to her home after she collapsed, gasping for breath. By the time she reached the hospital, she was unconscious and passed away soon after.
Meet the Parents marked DeHuff's feature-film debut. She played Deborah Byrnes, the sister whose wedding prompts Gaylord "Greg" Focker's (Ben Stiller) visit to girlfriend Pam Byrne's (Polo) childhood home to attend the ceremony and, as suggested by the title, meet the parents. Hilarity ensues.
In one of the movie's most memorable scenes, a Speedo-clad Stiller spikes a volleyball into DeHuff's face, breaking the bride-to-be's nose and cementing his own unpopularity.
DeHuff also appeared in 2004's Suspect Zero with Ben Kingsley and in an independent film called Killing Cinderella.
She also starred in the as yet unreleased independent film Unbeatable Harold, directed by her husband, Ari Palitz, and costarring Dylan McDermott and Gordon Michaels.
On the small screen, DeHuff had roles in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Court, The Practice, Dragnet, Without a Trace and Monk. She also appeared in the TV movie See Arnold Run.
A native of Oklahoma, DeHuff graduated from the Carnegie Mellon University acting program.
She is survived by Palitz, her husband of four years, as well as her sister, her mother and her father.
That's horrible!
"sent home with orders to take Tylenol."
There's your problem right there. Tylenol ain't worth crap; a sham.
As for the L.A. hospital - I'll bet it was no teaching hospital.
Wonder which hospital it was.
How tragic for someone so young. Prayers for her family.
Doctors kill more people than all guns combined.
Dayum. Misdiagnosed? Wow. So sad. Is this considered an acceptable mistake?
The reporter doesn't know the facts of the case, doesn't know pneumonia from bronchitis, and is in no position to report that the condition was "misdiagnosed", even if subsequent events proved unfortunate.
I got pneumonia about 4 years ago. It was a bad bug. A very bad bug. It took over my left lung in a day. If I wouldn't have gone to the hospital at 9 PM rather than try to sleep til morning and then go, I would be dead.
Still, the doctors shoulda known. Mine did. Immediately.
Sometimes life throws you a curve.
I agree. My mother was diagnosed with pnewmonia about a week ago. It took the doctor about 5 minutes to determine she had pnuemonia and admit her to the hospital.
FMCDH(BITS)
Guesswork in white coats...
Must be friday. I mispelled pneumonia twice in the same post.
H1B doctor bump
In all fairness, I think it's possible she was sick otherwise and gained the pneumonia. I don't think it's a real illness per se, rather a condition of fluid in the lungs. If she was sick, she could've been sitting around too much and catching pneumonia, too. That is a big concern of any1 convalescing.
An unnecessary tragedy....very sad. Shame on the hospital!
Doctors with lawyers at their backs with guns to their heads kill more people than all guns combined.
Don't go to an emergency room that's too busy treating illegals.
I went through a year and half of the worse misery going from doctor to doctor before I received help. What's worse, is that I knew what was wrong and they wouldn't listen.
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