In Other News...
John Ritter's family has
sued the hospital where he was taken for treatment:
Ritter's wife Amy Yasbeck and their four children filed a wrongful death and medical malpractice suit on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that hospital doctors "caused the untimely death ... by misdiagnosing his condition and as a consequence, failing to provide proper treatment in connection with an ascending aortic aneurysm that would have saved his life."
The lawsuit says that Ritter was initially diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction and then with pericardial tamponade. He actually had a large ascending aortic aneurysm.
Sad to say, this isn't the first time this has happened (I don't mean at that hospital; I mean in general). Early this year the
Wall Street Journal ran an excellent article about the diagnosis of aneurysms. They're often missed. If anything good comes from Ritter's death, I think it will be that aneurysms will attain a higher profile on the diagnostic list. They won't be the last thing considered any more.
posted by Dr. Alice at #
