John's family suing the hospital for wrongful death

[MandieR1980]

I'm sure this will be on ET tonight since it's being reported on their website here:http://et.tv.yahoo.com/newslink/index.html#l1

[Superstar]

wow

[MandieR1980]

it wasn't mentioned on last night's ET so it will be on tonights

[Cactus Jack]

Whoa!

[twinkle44301]

I heard this on the news yesterday. I don't know what to think. I remember hearing Henry Winkler saying that John had been feeling very poorly, but wouldn't go to a doctor. So....things unfortunately happen if you don't seek medical adivce until it's too late.

Of course not knowing the details, it's hard to know what is going on. There could have been gross negligence on the part of the doctor or the hospital..who knows, but had he gone to the doctor when the problems started, he may have increased his chances of survival.

I have a friend who lost her husband to the same thing, only he went right away and still died. She was told that most people do not survive something like this.

My guess is the hospital and doctors will settle out of court. If our country continues on this litigious path, none of us will be able to find a doctor. My guess is they waited so long so his show could gather steam and keep going. I'll bet the statute of limitations is about to run out on filing, and this is why they are doing it now.

If neglience really happened, I question why they waited so long. I don't know the facts, but from what I have heard about his death, this just screams "we need money to keep us living the life we've grown to expect." And they'll probably get it. Remember this the next time you are in an ER and can't find a doctor to treat you. This is just me, but I feel they are sullying his name.....Give me the money!

Again, I don't know all the facts, but had Mr. Ritter sought out medical attention (as pointed out by his friend, Henry Winkler) possibly he would have survived. But probably not. I'm saddened by this action by his family and will be interested to hear if their is any merit to their decision to do this. If they settle out of court (which I think they will), we'll never know (but believe me, we will all pay for this by way of higher insurance premiuims).

I will admit, I could be completely wrong. But this is how I feel about the subject at this point in time.

[twinkle44301]

Okay...I went back and read the info on the link provided by an earlier poster.

Again, had Mr. Ritter sought medical attention as soon as he felt ill (and according to Henry Winkler, there were many signs it was), then may have survivied.

I will say, he may have been mis-diagnosed. Doctors are human and they make mistakes. We can and should hold doctors accountable if their poor decisions kill us, but sometimes they do the best they can, and are still wrong. Again, there is going to be a severe shortage of this doctors in this country (there already is), because doctors can't afford the malpractice insurance. I don't know about you, but I don't want to have to start visiting someone like Granny Clampett for medical help.

I am personally sick of these stupid lawsuits. Yes, they'll probably get money, and no one will admit anything. The doctors insurance will spike and they will pass it along to us. If they go to court, they usually spend more in court than they do to settle, which is why they usually settle out of court.

And by the way...I am not a doctor, nor am I married to one. I do have a daughter who wanted to go into medicine, but declined to do so because of the malpractice and health insurance issues. It's happening more and more. And it's sad. She's a great engineer now, but her love was really to work with high-risk pregnant women or premies.

Remember when the hospitals in Las Vegas (I believe it was there) closed their trauma units because of insurance and lawsuits?

[drummergirl81]

My dad went into the hospital on 1/2/03 because he suddenly got very very cold and began shaking uncontrollably. When he first entered the hospital, the docs had no idea what was wrong, but then he got really hot and started vomiting. They did tests and decided he was having a heart attack so they treated him for that, but on the tests they also saw that he needed further tests on his heart. These tests later determined that one of his arteries was 80% clogged and he needed a valve replacement for his Aortic valve. On 1/8/03 he had open heart surgery to fix the clogged artery and the valve. Incase you don't know, when you have a heart attack it will scar the tissues of the heart. The doc that performed my dads surgery told us afterwards that his heart was in great condition and the he had no scarring on his heart whatsoever, and that he didnt know what had caused him to have the symptoms he began with, but that it was not a heart attack. The point of my little story is that technically my dad was misdiagnosed, but if they wouldn't have misdiagnosed him with a heart attack then they wouldn't have done further tests on his heart. The doc said that his Aortic valve was so bad that it literally could have only taken one more time of overworking his heart(running while playing with the dog, etc.) and he could have literally dropped dead. If they wouldn't have said heart attack, but say, stomach flu instead, they could have sent him home and maybe in a week he might have died. I guess there are two sides to misdiagnosis stories, and maybe these docs at Prov. St. Jospehs were way off and didn't have any clue as to what was going on, but in my families case this turned out to be a good thing. I wish things would have turned out good for the Ritters as well.

[Tammy]

Not to get off topic, but drummergirl, I never realized you could get those symptoms from a clogged aortic valve! My grandmother was recently hospitalized with those same symptoms and they found out she had pnuemonia and two other serious infections. If i had read this before I would have been freaking out at the hospital because she just had valve replacement surgery (and every complication in the book) a few months ago. How is your dad feeling now?

[twinkle44301]

I was also wondering how her dad is doing...

[drummergirl81]

Thanks for y'alls concern! My dad is doing just great now, he has had no problems with his heart or his new valve. We do tease him though...the valve is made of metal, so each time his heart beats we hear a "tick" noise. I laugh and tell him, "Hey Dad, you can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'!" The ticking is loud enough that sometimes it wakes him up in the middle of the night. It's not uncommon for him to be up at 3 or 4 am reading a book until he gets so tired he passes out, lol!

[drummergirl81]

Originally posted by Tammy
My grandmother was recently hospitalized with those same symptoms and they found out she had pnuemonia and two other serious infections. If i had read this before I would have been freaking out at the hospital because she just had valve replacement surgery (and every complication in the book) a few months ago

I am glad to hear that it wasn't her heart. How is she doing now? For some reason I get pnuemonia about once a year, I know how bad it can be and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I hope she's feeling better!

[twinkle44301]

I'm glad he's doing great!

[Tammy]

She's feeling better, thanks! Actually, everyone in my house is getting over some virus that's going around but at least that's something minor I'm glad everything turned out ok for your dad-Gram was supposed to get the metal valve but they ended up using the pig valve at the last minute (something about a better fit). I never knew you could hear it clicking, that must be really funny at first

[Auntie]

Originally Posted by twinkle44301

I heard this on the news yesterday. I don't know what to think. I remember hearing Henry Winkler saying that John had been feeling very poorly, but wouldn't go to a doctor. So....things unfortunately happen if you don't seek medical adivce until it's too late.

Of course not knowing the details, it's hard to know what is going on. There could have been gross negligence on the part of the doctor or the hospital..who knows, but had he gone to the doctor when the problems started, he may have increased his chances of survival.

I have a friend who lost her husband to the same thing, only he went right away and still died. She was told that most people do not survive something like this.

My guess is the hospital and doctors will settle out of court. If our country continues on this litigious path, none of us will be able to find a doctor. My guess is they waited so long so his show could gather steam and keep going. I'll bet the statute of limitations is about to run out on filing, and this is why they are doing it now.

If neglience really happened, I question why they waited so long. I don't know the facts, but from what I have heard about his death, this just screams "we need money to keep us living the life we've grown to expect." And they'll probably get it. Remember this the next time you are in an ER and can't find a doctor to treat you. This is just me, but I feel they are sullying his name.....Give me the money!

Again, I don't know all the facts, but had Mr. Ritter sought out medical attention (as pointed out by his friend, Henry Winkler) possibly he would have survived. But probably not. I'm saddened by this action by his family and will be interested to hear if their is any merit to their decision to do this. If they settle out of court (which I think they will), we'll never know (but believe me, we will all pay for this by way of higher insurance premiuims).

I will admit, I could be completely wrong. But this is how I feel about the subject at this point in time.

I know that this is an old post, but in reguards to the Ritter family, I hope that they win the case. After all, he could've been saved with the proper procedgers( sorry if that is mis spelled).

[twinkle44301]

Originally Posted by Auntie

I know that this is an old post, but in reguards to the Ritter family, I hope that they win the case. After all, he could've been saved with the proper procedgers( sorry if that is mis spelled).

Sorry, but we are a "sue happy" society. One of these days, you are going to be in need of critical care, and there won't be a surgeon there to help you...Oh, wait a minute, that is already happening.

Everytime someone sues, and everytime a jury hands out a huge award, it costs you and me in the form of higher premiums (if we can get insurance at all). It has to stop somewhere. He would have died anyway had he not been able to find a doctor, and that's what going to happen on a regualar basis in this country in the very near future. Henry Winkler has stated that John had been sick, and had not gone to the doctor, but when he was about to drop dead, then he did. What does one expect? These people aren't miracle workers? They aren't God's, they are human.

We pay $20,000 a year for health insurance (for our family of five). It keeps going up and up. Those people who are under the umbrella of "group insurance" are within a stones throw of finding out what it's like to have to pay what we do (for small business insurance).

The USA Mantra...Sue, sue, sue has to stop one of these days. Doctors are afraid to treat people these days. Go out and by a medical book, because one of these days, you are going to have to treat yourself. Within 10 years, most of the country will be without health insurance. My daughter was going to go to medical school. She however wants no part of this. It's quite sad and this is all because of this sue, sue, sue mentality we have.

I have friends who are doctors, and they will not treat people who have been involved in lawsuits. Right or wong, they are not willing to be taken to the cleaner because someone wants to win the "medical lawsuit lottery."

John should have gone immediately to the hospital and sought treatment. He didn't, and it cost him his life. He was a lovely man, and it certainly is a tragedy, but to think that monetary compensation is the answer is nuts. It's about time people start taking responsibilty for their actions, and quit blaming others.