John Ritter died of an undiagnosed and undetected heart defect known as an aortic aneurysm. He was just six days away from his 55th birthday when he fell ill while rehearsing lines on the set of 8 Simple Rules… for Dating My Teenage Daughter.
His surviving wife, Amy Yasbeck, and his family filed a lawsuit in the case, arguing that his death could have been prevented. Yasbeck also established the John Ritter Foundation to educate the public about aortic aneurysms and support those affected by the condition.
Ritter was best known for his role as Jack Tripper on the 1970s and 1980s classic Three’s Company. An ABC special, Superstar: John Ritter, will discuss his life, death and legacy. The show will air Wednesday, August 25, 2021, at 10 p.m. ET.
Here’s what you need to know:
Ritter’s wife, Amy Yasbeck, described his final hours in a deposition for a wrongful death lawsuit
Yasbeck gave her testimony about her husband’s final hours in a wrongful death lawsuit alleging negligence by two doctors during his care. She said she was called to a hospital in Burbank, California, and doctors told her Ritter was having a heart attack and needed a coronary angiogram, according to CBC. Ritter wanted a second opinion, the report said.
“Dr. Lee said, ‘No, there’s no time. He’s having a heart attack,'” Yasbeck confirmed, according to CBC.
“I leaned down to John’s ear and said, ‘I know you’re scared but you have to be brave and do this because these guys know what they’re doing.’ And he was brave the entire time I saw him,” Yasbeck recently said, according to the CBC report.
She muttered the words “I love you” as he was wheeled away, and she did, according to the article. Surgery was performed on Ritter, but his aorta was “ripped,” the article said. His family learned he had died shortly afterward.
“He said it was over and John was dead, that they had been operating on John for a long time but the damage had already been done by the time he got there. It was over and John was dead,” Yasbeck confirmed, according to the CBC.
The doctors, Dr. Joseph Lee and Dr. Matthew Lotysch, were cleared and the family lost a $67 million lawsuit. However, they won previous lawsuits over Ritter’s death, and his death changed the way doctors detect and treat aortic aneurysms, according to Columbia Surgery.
Aortic aneurysms are often misdiagnosed as heart attacks, which can delay life-saving care
The symptoms of an aortic aneurysm can resemble those of a heart attack, Columbia Surgery reported. When Ritter was admitted to the hospital, they began treating him for a heart attack. But the misdiagnosis delayed care, the article said.
Columbia Surgery explains:
Aortic dissection occurs when the inner wall of the aorta tears. Like other arteries, the aorta is essentially a hollow tube that carries blood away from the heart. The tube’s wall consists of three layers: the inner layer, the middle layer, and the outer layer. When the inner layer tears, blood can flow back into the tear, creating a pocket between the inner and middle layers. Instead of going to vital organs like the brain, liver, and kidneys, this blood gets trapped in the wall of the aorta. And as more blood gets trapped, the tear gets bigger, making the problem worse. That can lead to a stroke (if not enough blood gets to the brain), heart valve damage (if the separation extends to the area where the aorta separates from the heart), and, most dangerously, a complete tear in the aortic wall—known as an aortic rupture.
The article said that after properly diagnosing the condition, doctors operated and attempted to repair the separation. However, the surgery was unsuccessful. He died on September 11, 2003.
