"This case has always seemed that it was just about the money."

Airdate: Monday, March 17^th and Tuesday, March 18^th 2008

Check local listings for times

New York, NY - March 17, 2008 - The two doctors who were found not to have acted negligently in the diagnosis and treatment of actor John Ritter speak exclusively with INSIDE EDITION in a two part interview about the case and Ritter's final moments.

Ritter, who died of a torn aorta in 2003 was treated by radiologist Dr. Matthew Lotysch and cardiologist Dr. Joseph Lee.  Both doctors were sued for $67 million by Ritter's widow Amy Yasbeck and his children.

Following are excerpted quotes from this exclusive interview scheduled to broadcast on INSIDE EDITION.  Credit must be given to INSIDE EDITION.

  Dr. Lotysch, who gave Ritter a full body scan two years prior to his death, tells INSIDE EDITION he told the actor he had a "potential time bomb" and diagnosed him with triple vessel heart disease.

Dr. Lotysch: "He clearly heard the message. He assured me at the time that he would pass this information onto his personal physician."

Lotysch, who says he sent a full dictated letter of all medical findings including a cd-rom with all of the images to the actor, tells INSIDE EDITION he believes this case was purely about money.

Dr. Lotysch: "I have a 2 million dollar insurance policy protecting me professionally. This case has always seemed it was just about the money."

Dr. Lee, who treated Ritter on the night he died, tells INSIDE EDITION he was very upset when he first found out about the lawsuit.

Dr. Lee: "I had spent three hours trying to save his life and then I get this call that I am being sued because he didn't survive and that made me kind of angry."

Dr. Lee also tells INSIDE EDITION he was concerned about the amount of influence the celebrities testifying would have in the case.

Dr. Lee: "The celebrity factor was always an issue and that is what I debated over and over whether to proceed with the case or just settle...I knew that the facts were behind us, and if people would just listen to the facts we would have no problem."

Dr. Lee also tells INSIDE EDITION about Ritter's final moments and state of mind.

Dr. Lee: "He was very anxious and on the borderline of agitated when we were wheeling him up to the cath lab.  He was trying to pull off his oxygen mask and he was sweating profusely.  He was trying to get off the gurney. I think he knew he wasn't doing well."

Both Doctors feel it was an unfortunate situation but not an uncommon one in their field.

Dr. Lee: "It happens everyday in medicine, people unfortunately die from bad diseases that you just can't save."

INSIDE EDITION is produced daily at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City and produced and distributed by CBS Television Distribution, a unit of CBS Corp.  

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Contact:           Jessica Fielder, Inside Edition

                       O: 212-817-5664

                       C: 646-306-1943

                        Jfielder@kingworld.com

            Irene Rogers, Inside Edition

                        O: 212-817-5426

                        Irogers@kingworld.com