John Ritter's Lawsuit - Doctors Cleared By Jury

The $67 million lawsuit brought by John Ritter's widow Amy Yasbeck against two doctors for the wrongful death of the actor has failed. The jury cleared the two doctors of negligence.

The suit was brought against the cardiologist who treated Ritter in the emergency room, and a radiologist who had examined him two years before his death.

The underlying argument was whether the cardiologist should have discovered the real cause of Ritter's sudden collapse which was due to an aortic dissection. He was instead treated for a heart attack.

The defendants' contention was that even had an x-ray shown up Ritter's condition, it was too late for anything else to have been done that could have saved his life.

The case against the radiologist was whether he had sufficiently warned Ritter of the potential danger of his condition. But the evidence was that Ritter had been warned but failed to take up follow-up treatment.

It seems this was never a strong case against these two doctors. Amy Yasbeck has already received over $14 million from other medical defendants.