Community Corner
Bernie Mac's Widow Withdraws Wrongful Death Lawsuit But Still Believes Doctor at Fault
She contends the comedian's longtime doctor erred in not sending him to the hospital more quickly in 2008.
Bernie Mac’s widow may have dropped a lawsuit against the South Side dermatologist who treated her husband for 20 years, but her wrongful death claim is still very much alive and her attorney said he has one year to refile.
Dr. Rene Earles, who treated the comedian for sarcoidosis, let Mac sleep in his office for four hours on July 17, 2008, even though his vital signs were weak, according to the suit filed in 2010. Mac, who moved to Frankfort’s Prestwick subdivision in 2002, had been diagnosed with pneumonia earlier in the day by another doctor.
Earles should have sent Mac to a hospital immediately, contends Cannon Lambert Sr., the attorney representing Mac’s widow Rhonda McCullough. Instead, he kept him for what would be a nine-hour appointment, according to news reports in 2010, the year the lawsuit was filed.
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Eventually, Earles, who had thought Mac, 50, was suffering an allergic reaction to his sarcoidosis medicine, sent Mac to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after speaking with the physician who diagnosed the pneumonia. Mac remained at Northwestern until his death on Aug. 9, 2008. While at the hospital, Mac contracted MRSA.
Attorney Mike Prangle, who represents Earles, told the Chicago Tribune the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court was dismissed Jan. 15. “They had no legitimate case against Dr. Earles,” he said.
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The Tribune reports that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has twice put Earles on probation for failure to pay his state income taxes. Earles also sued Mac in 2008 for failure to pay his bills, but Mac’s business representatives dispute that claim.
Bernie Mac, whose given name was Bernard McCullough, was born on the South Side of Chicago. Before hitting it big as a comedian, movie actor and star of his own TV show, the Bernie Mac Show, Mac worked as a Wonder Bread salesman, a UPS driver and a furniture mover. Frankfort residents still fondly remember that he would hand out candy from his front door at Halloween.
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