Popsquire

According to KNBC news, Henry Wrinkler (aka, the Fonz) is set to testify today in the John Ritter wrongful death trial.  The attorneys’ opening arguments are over, and Popsquire is confident you need a cram session:

1. Death: On September 11, 2003, Ritter died of a tear in the aorta — aka, an aortic dissection — at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank;
2. Cause: Ritter’s relatives say he was instead mistakenly treated for a heart attack, and they are suing two doctors for $67 million.
3. Settlements: The lawsuit follows settlements with the hospital and eight other medical personnel for about $14 million.
4. The Doctors: The Ritter family claims that a radiologist, Dr. Matthew Lotysch, failed to give Ritter warning of his purportedly enlarged aorta two years before he died, and that Dr. Joseph Lee, the cardiologist called to Ritter’s side the night of his death, failed to order the proper tests to diagnose his condition.
5. The Issue: Central to the case is the claim that Lee failed to have a chest X-ray done before treating Ritter for what appeared to be a heart attack.
6. The Defense: In opening arguments, defense attorney, Stephen C. Fraser, argued that nothing could have been done to prevent Ritter’s death, because body scans showed his aorta was of normal size and showed no sign that it would tear.  He said,  “Dr. Lee did not save John Ritter’s life, but he did not kill him…There was nothing that could have been done to save Mr. Ritter’s life.”

Popsquire suggests notecards to help with understanding and memorization.  Pop quiz tomorrow!

Technorati Tags: amy yasbeck, henry winkler, john ritter, law, Medical Malpractice, pop culture, three's company, Wrongful Death

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 6:02 am and is filed under Wrongful Death. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.