The upcoming trial of a medical malpractice suit stemming from the death of actor John Ritter could provide a public window into the usually private world of Hollywood contract negotiations. According to the LA Times, Ritter’s widow, actress Amy Yasbeck, is seeking more than $67 million in damages — representing what he could have made from the ABC show “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” if he hadn’t died of an undiagnosed arterial condition in September 2003.
At the time of his death, the Times reports, Ritter was making $75,000 per episode of “8 Simple Rules” under a seven-year contract with Touchstone Studios that also provided for a 5 percent raise every year. Assuming the series lasted the length of that contract, he would have received a total of $14.7 million, not including residuals.
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But the former “Three’s Company” star had also begun negotiations on a much more lucrative contract — one that, according to the deposition of a Touchstone executive, would have paid him “between $250,000 to $350,000” per episode plus a share of syndication profits. The total take from that deal? At least $67 million for a seven-season run, according to the claim.
Of course, before the case can even get to a valuation of Ritter’s career, the Los Angeles Superior Court jury will have to find the defendants — radiologist Matthew Lotysch and cardiologist Joseph Lee — liable for his death. Yasbeck alleges Lee failed to diagnose Ritter with an aortic dissection after the actor was rushed to a Burbank hospital, treating him for a heart attack instead. The defense denies any malpractice and argues Ritter would have died no matter what the doctors did.
Of the plaintiff’s damages demand, an attorney for Lotysch, Stephen Fraser, said, “They assume a very, very rosy scenario. It might as well be $1 billion. Who could afford to pay a judgment like that?” Jury selection in the trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 4.
