CHICAGO (AP) — Comedian Bernie Mac's widow has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Chicago against the late comedian's longtime doctor.
Rhonda McCullough alleges that a few weeks before Mac's 2008 death, dermatologist Rene M. Earles didn't recognize indications of respiratory failure and kept the 50-year-old Chicago native at the clinic for several hours rather than call an ambulance.
Earles tells the Chicago Sun-Times he treated Mac that day. He says Mac appeared weak, had a low-grade fever and a rash. He says after Mac told him another doctor had given him an injection for a cold, he called Mac's doctor and was told Mac had been diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs. He says he immediately advised Mac to go to a hospital and that Mac was taken to one in a chauffer-driven vehicle.