Posted on 03/14/2008 11:46:19 PM PDT by doesnt suffer fools gladly
2 Doctors Cleared in John Ritter's Death
By LINDA DEUTSCH,AP
GLENDALE, Calif. (March 14) - A jury cleared a cardiologist and a radiologist Friday of negligence in the diagnosis and treatment of actor John Ritter, who died of a torn aorta in 2003.
Jurors said the majority believed the cardiologist summoned to the hospital after Ritter was diagnosed with a heart attack had no time to order a chest X-ray that might have found the tear.
They also said the radiologist, who gave Ritter a body scan two years earlier, did advise Ritter of coronary problems and to consult other doctors, but his failure to do so did not cause his death.
The 9-3 verdict means there is no damage judgment against the doctors, neither of whom were present when the jury reached a decision in the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Ritter's widow and children.
Verdicts do not have to be unanimous in civil cases.
"I disagree with the jury's decision but I believe in the system and I respect it," said the widow, Amy Yasbeck. "It inspires me even more to find, with these brilliant medical minds, a path to diagnose aortic diseases."
Yasbeck said she has started a foundation in her husband's name to work on the condition.
Lawyers for Ritter's family claimed Ritter's death resulted in a loss of as much as $67 million in future earnings. Eight other medical personnel and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center previously made settlements with the family totaling $14 million.
Neither doctor was present for the verdict, which was reached on the second day of deliberations and was read quickly. Attorneys said Dr. Matthew Lotysch, the radiologist, and Dr. Joseph Lee, the cardiologist, were at work.
Attorney Stephen C. Fraser, who represented Lotysch, credited jurors with being sophisticated and intelligent.
"The system worked and we're very, very happy that they did the right thing," Fraser said.
Defense testimony characterized the aortic dissection as lethal and contended that even with surgery the outcome would have been the same.
When he died on Sept. 11, 2003, Ritter was starring in the TV show "8 Simple Rules ... for Dating My Teenage Daughter." He was 54.
During the trial, attorneys for the families sought to show that Lee rushed to a faulty diagnosis and failed to have a chest X-ray taken that would have revealed the torn aorta, resulting in surgery that would have saved him.
Testimony showed that an X-ray was ordered as soon as Ritter arrived at the emergency room but for unknown reasons it was never done. Lee was called in later in the evening after Ritter was already diagnosed with a heart attack.
Defense testimony characterized the aortic dissection as lethal and contended that even with surgery the outcome would have been the same.
Lotysch testified he told Ritter he had calcification in three coronary arteries and should consult other doctors. But in a related finding, the jury decided that Ritter's failure to pursue that medical consultation was not a cause of his death.
Just what was Ms. Yasbeck’s point with this suit? She had already been awarded a sum of, I believe, $12M from the hospital. While I won’t claim to know all the facts it seems to me that these suits were more about money than any mistakes on the part of the doctors.
A torn aorta and the wife is suing the hospital.
Even the rich in Hollywood can’t get enough.
bump
Money!Money!Money!Money!Money!Money!Money!Money!!!!!!!!!
And More Money!
Perhaps the medical community will shy from the rich. If a mistake on the upper crust costs the doctor a percentage of future income.....then why take the risk. Just concentrate on the middle class.
One of my best friends at work for 12 years suffered both an upper and lower aortic dissection at work a few years ago. The closest hospital did not have a team available to perform the surgery. She stayed alive and conscious, but paralyzed and with failed kidneys, for 12 hours before they could find a team available (and this is in L.A.) to do the surgery. They finally transferred to another hospital for the surgery. She survived but never came out of the induced coma and after determining she would not recover, was taken off life support after a few days. At the time all of us at work were just devastated and angry that she couldn’t have been treated sooner. However, as time went on we all learned that even if the surgery had been done immediately, she only had a 5% chance of making it through and recovering. It was so sad, but the time to have the surgery is before this happens. I have kind of been disgusted by Yasbeck’s pursuit of this - surely she could have known the reality of this situation. I’m glad the doctors were cleared.
That’s a very sad and tragic story. I’m sorry for the loss of your good friend. Live every day as if it’s our last, I guess.
As we have discussed before, this is a difficult diagnoses to make given the amount of time with which to make it. I am sure they are in grief and possibly being manipulated by some attorney as well.
But John Ritter had the financial resources to bring ultrasound technicians to whatever set he was working on. He chose, like most people, not to avail himself of preventive tests that would have detected his aneurism.
The 12 mil his widow got from the hospital we will all be paying for in the future. It is one of the chief components of spiraling health costs.
I’ve been in the hospital and surprise, the humans working there make as many mistakes as the rest of us do. I make a mistake in my work, many are inconvenienced. Health care workers make a mistake and someone may die. It’s just the nature of the thing.
What charity is the good widow giving the 12 mil too? Oh yeah, her favorite charity, herself.
I urge everyone reading this over 30 to get as many preventive tests as are available. I have my colon exam under my belt, as well as routine ultrasounds and will be getting a 256 slice scan this year.
The doctor’s malpractice insurance will go up just because they had to pay for his defense. Many ob gyn’s are quitting the practice of medicine rather than pay in excess of a million a year in insurance costs.
as I understand it, doing an angiogram was the absolute wrong thing to do and that is what killed John.....not the aortic dissection itself....that is why the hospital paid immediately...at least that’s what I’ve heard....aortic dissection is difficult to diagnosis and the doctors did what was the normal thing...treat John’s symptoms as a heart attack..
God bless John Ritter and his family...he brought a lot of laughs to us all...
Yep, me too. These sorts of law suits are a prime reason why we pay so much for health care in this country. The doctors rarely get a "jury of their peers" either.
I had open heart surgery in 1991 to fix a congenital problem. I was a young and otherwise healthy 28 year old and the risks were somewhat minimal, even though it was open heart and I spent 45 minutes on the heart/lung bypass machine. Had I not had the surgery, I would not be typing this right now. I told my family before the surgery that I did not want them to seek retribution if the surgery did not go well. I knew I was in good hands and I knew the doctors would do all they could to see to it that I was fixed.
It's a pity that more folks don't realize that even modern medicine has times when things don't go right no matter what you do.
Short of meaningful tort reform, which we ain't gonna get anytime soon, a "loosing party pays" system in the courts would go a long way towards eliminating these frivolous law suits.
You won’t know that you an aortic defect until it starts to dissect. That explains the extremely low survival rate.
So it was absolutely a mistake. An absolute wrong thing to do. An absolute mistake.
"ER calling God" "God to the ER room"
That is not true. While it is difficult to know if you have an aneurysm without specific tests, it can be detected in advance. My mother’s friend had an aortic aneurysm that was detected and repaired before the worst happened. She was told it runs in families and advised to tell her siblings to get tested. Three siblings were subsequently tested and all found to have the same condition. One sibling refused to be tested and died within a year from a dissection.
That is extremely rare. Most cases of AAA are diagnosed post mortem.
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