Michael Crichton's Widow Takes on Warner Bros. in Legal Battle Over 'The Pitt'

A court has ruled that famed medical drama The Pitt is similar enough to ER to allow Michael Crichton’s widow to move forward with a lawsuit.

A three-judge panel unanimously denied an appeal from Warner Bros. Television on Wednesday, November 4, which argued that The Pitt and ER are unrelated to each other.

“There are clear and numerous similarities between The Pitt and ER; where those similarities lie, on a ladder of abstraction protecting only the more specific expressions, is a matter of ‘degree,’” the court ruled, per NBC News. “Making favorable inferences in Roadrunner’s favor, as we must, we find the details here suffice for a prima facie case.”