Feb 10, 2008 7:15 pm US/Pacific
Ritter Family's Wrongful Death Suit Starts Monday
GLENDALE
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The family of the late John Ritter has filed a $67 million wrongful death suit against a cardiologist and radiologist they claim misdiagnosed the actor which led to his untimely death.
AP
Opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday in a $67 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of comic actor John Ritter against a cardiologist and radiologist they claim misdiagnosed the actor, causing his untimely death.
Ritter was taping ABC's "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" on Sept. 11, 2003, when he fell ill. The 54-year-old actor was taken to Providence Saint Joseph's -- across the street from the Burbank studio -- at about 6:10 p.m. that day, complaining of chest pain and tightness, nausea, vomiting and dizziness.
The lawsuit alleges that radiologist Matthew Lotysch misinterpreted the results of a body scan the actor had in 2001, and cardiologist Joseph Lee also misdiagnosed the actor before he died at 10:48 that night of an ascending
aortic aneurysm.
The lawsuit alleges that "if proper procedures had been followed to diagnose and treat Mr. Ritter's symptoms, he would be alive and well today."
The civil suit was originally filed on Sept. 3, 2004, in Los Angeles Superior Court against the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, the Burbank Emergency Medical Group and several doctors. It was transferred to the Glendale courthouse three months later.
The suit was brought on behalf of Ritter's widow, actress Amy Yasbeck; their daughter Stella (who turned 5 on the day Ritter died); and Ritter's children from his first marriage to Nancy Morgan: Carly, Tyler, and Jason.
The family has already received more than $14 million in settlements, including $9.4 million from the hospital where Ritter died.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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