Overview
- Ritter announced his diagnosis and said he would leave nightly anchoring during a taped Eyewitness News segment that aired on Friday, June 12.
- He told Good Morning America that memory lapses began about two years earlier, that he cut back from the 11 p.m. and 5 p.m. newscasts to reduce stress, and that persistent symptoms led him and his wife to seek medical testing.
- Ritter said doctors diagnosed early-stage Alzheimer’s and that current treatments are “keeping it at bay,” but he emphasized there is no cure and no guarantee about the future course of the disease.
- He will remain at WABC in a redefined role focused on reporting on dementia, mentoring younger reporters, and helping the station examine treatment access and the costs of care while management plans for a permanent anchor replacement.
- The announcement produced wide public support and revived attention to family caregiving and policy challenges for dementia care, with some reports noting differing descriptions of Ritter’s late father’s diagnosis in earlier coverage.