Joan Rivers died as a result of ‘predictable complication’ during surgery

New York NY

Comedian Joan RIVERS, who passed away last month at the age of 81, died of a complication during a medical procedure, the New York Chief Medical Examiner’s Office said on Thursday, 16 October 2014.

Rivers was having an examination of the back of the throat and vocal cords at a New York clinic, Yorkville Endoscopy, when she stopped breathing and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was put on life support.

“The manner of death is therapeutic complication,” the medical examiner said in a statement, “the death resulted from a predictable complication of medical therapy.”

It listed the Cause of Death as anoxic encephalopathy, a condition caused when brain tissue is deprived of oxygen and there is brain damage.

Rivers, the brash, pioneering comedian who paved the way for women in stand-up comedy, died in hospital on September 4, a week after the outpatient procedure.

Following her death, the New York State Health Department launched an investigation into Yorkville Endoscopy where Rivers was treated. It reviewed records and documents and questioned doctors at the clinic which opened in 2013.

The clinic denied media reports that it had administered a general anesthesia or conducted a vocal cord biopsy on Rivers.  Last month the clinic said the doctor who performed the procedure was not currently working there or serving as its medical director.

The clinic and its spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They also declined to comment on a claim made by a staff member at the clinic that the doctor took a ‘selfie’ with Rivers before performing the procedure.

Reuters