[Archive 2008-03-14] Doctors who treated John Ritter cleared of negligence lawsuit

Historical archive — originally published 2008-03-14. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Two doctors who treated actor John Ritter for chest pain in Burbank, California were cleared of a negligence lawsuit on Friday. Ritter was an American television and film actor who died of aortic dissection on 11 September 2003.

Ritter's children and widow (Amy Yasbeck) filed a US$67 million lawsuit claiming negligence by the doctors, both at the time Ritter fell ill and at a medical checkup two years earlier where problems with Ritter's aorta could have been spotted.

A jury hearing the case at Los Angeles County Superior Court voted 9-3 to dismiss the claims, satisfied that the defendants, Dr. Joseph Lee and Dr. Matthew Lotysch, acted properly during their examination and treatment of Ritter.

Ritter's last role was in leading the cast of the television series 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter whose production was disrupted by his death.

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