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A jury cleared Doctors Joseph Lee and Matthew Lottysch of any wrongdoing in the death of actor John Ritter. Ritter’s family had been seeking $67 million dollars in damages in the wrongful death lawsuit against the two doctors, in which the family alleged that improper diagnosis of a torn aorta led to John’s death in 2003 after he collapsed on the set of his TV show 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter.

Radiologist Matthew 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.

Dr. Lee was the attending cardiologist the night Ritter was brought into the ER with a torn aorta, and Dr. Lottysch was the radiologist that performed a total body scan on the actor.

The cardiologist Dr. Joseph Lee, was summoned to treat Ritter at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with a heart attack.
During the trial, attorneys for the family 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 however 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.

The verdict came in 9–3 in favor of the doctors. Lawyers for Ritter’s widow, Amy Yasbeck, and children claimed Ritter’s death resulted in a loss of as much as $67 million in future earnings. Eight other medical personnel and the hospital previously made settlements with the family totaling $14 million.

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