Widow recounts actor's last day

Ritter starred in 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter

The wife of late US TV star John Ritter has been speaking in court about the day he died, saying he complained of chest pains before going to hospital.

The family of the actor, who starred in sitcom 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter, are suing two doctors for $67m (£33m) for wrongful death.

Ritter died from a torn aorta in 2003. The family claim the doctors failed to spot crucial signs of his condition.

The court heard an answering machine message Ritter left before he died.

"Hi honey, this is John," he said. "I'm in my dressing room and not feeling very well. I think I have food poisoning. They're going to call a doctor to look at me."

He called back a few minutes later to say he would probably miss an event at his daughter school that evening, Ritter's widow Amy Yasbeck told the court in California.

Amy Yasbeck said her husband was "very positive" about his scan

"He called back and said: 'Now I'm having chest pains and the nurse is coming and they're going to take me across the street,'" she said.

The actor, 54, was taken to hospital in the Burbank district of California. Ms Yasbeck will resume giving details of his last day on Monday.

The family claim Dr Matthew Lotysch missed an enlargement of the aorta after a scan in 2001.

They also allege Dr Joseph Lee failed to recognise the aortic dissection on the day Ritter died, instead treating him for a heart attack. Both dispute the claims.

Dr Lotysch testified on Wednesday that he met Ritter for about half an hour after the scan and told him he had triple vessel coronary disease and should make an appointment to see a heart specialist.

'Very positive'

Ms Yasbeck said her husband had not mentioned that.

She said he returned from the procedure, showed her the results and said: "This is good. This is not bad for a man of my age."

She told the court: "I just remember he was very positive about it, like this was a good thing."

In other testimony, forensic economist Tamara Hunt said that Ritter could have earned nearly $41.9m (£21m) if he had lived and his show had continued for seven years.

Ritter found fame in the 1970s as Jack in Three's Company, receiving three Emmy nominations for the show and winning once.