John Ritter's family is out to prove that two doctors who treated the late actor did "everything wrong."
Opening statements were delivered Monday in the $67 million wrongful death and malpractice lawsuit leveled by Ritter's widow, Amy Yasbeck, against a cardiologist and a radiologist whom she contends could have prevented the 54-year-old's seemingly sudden death on Sept. 11, 2003.
It turned out that Ritter had an aortic dissection, a preexisting condition that was not detected until the staff at Burbank's Providence St. Joseph Medical Center was in the process of treating him for a heart attack.
Yasbeck's suit alleges that cardiologist Dr. Joseph Lee failed to follow through with an ER order for a chest X-ray that might have revealed the tear in Ritter's aorta, and that Dr. Matthew Lotysch, who gave the Emmy winner a full-body scan in 2001, failed to warn Ritter about his potentially fatal condition.
"If proper procedures had been followed to diagnose and treat Mr. Ritter's symptoms, he would be alive and well today," the suit states.
Yasbeck, who was married to the Three's Company star for almost four years, has already received about $14 million in damages from the hospital and related parties, but she told the Los Angeles Times recently that she's looking to raise awareness about Ritter's condition and the care it entails.
"What you'll hear, ladies and gentlemen, is…they did everything wrong," Yasbeck's attorney, Moses Lebovits, said in his opening remarks.
"There's a simple way to find out what you're doing and that is to get a chest X-ray," he said, staging the base of his argument. Lee "knows this, but he does not get the chest X-ray, and he has plenty of time.
"Because they don't get the chest X-ray, they gave him the wrong treatment."
If treated properly, Lebovits charged, Ritter could have undergone surgery and recovered in six to eight weeks.
"There is a very real disconnect between what is written in the medical charts, both before and after John Ritter died, and what [the defense is] going to tell you today," Lebovits said.
The defendants have maintained that Ritter's death was unpreventable, that his heart was, in a way, a ticking time-bomb.
"These doctors did nothing more than try to save Mr. Ritter's life," said attorney Stephen Fraser, who's representing Lotysch. "Nothing could have been done to prevent John Ritter's aorta from dissecting."
The body scan two years prior didn't show an enlarged aorta; therefore, there was nothing for Lotysch to warn Ritter about, Fraser said.
"Dr. Lee did not save John Ritter's life, but he did not kill him," Fraser added. "There was nothing that could have been done to save Mr. Ritter's life."
Fraser said that Ritter did, in fact, have a heart attack, albeit one caused by the dissected aorta.
"The thought that this was a doctor-caused death is wrong," Lee's attorney, John McCurdy, said in his statement.
By the time Lee arrived at the scene, Ritter was having an acute heart attack and hospital staff had called a "code AMI," meaning, an acute myocardial infarction.
"In that situation, you don't wait around for an X-ray," McCurdy said.
Another member of the defense team, Alex Watson, told the jury that the family's reason for suing for $67 million—that Ritter had been on a hit show, ABC's 8 Simple Rules, and his earning potential was high—was unreasonable.
TV schedules are unpredictable, Watson said, and it's pure speculation to say whether Ritter's show would have continued to be a success, especially as it had recently gone up against Fox' American Idol.
Henry Winkler, a longtime friend of Ritter's, was scheduled to take the stand Monday, but the defense's opening statement took up the majority of the afternoon.
The former Happy Days star is expected to return to court Wednesday when the trial resumes.
The lawsuit, which alleges Ritter was misdiagnosed and ultimately received substandard care, was filed on behalf of Yasbeck; Stella, her 9-year-old daughter with Ritter; and the actor's children from his first marriage to Nancy Morgan, Carly, Tyler and Jason.