Joan Rivers’ Daughter Melissa Files Malpractice Lawsuit Against New York City Clinic and Doctors Allegedly Responsible for the Comedian’s Death
Joan Rivers' daughter Melissa and two other executors of the late 81-year-old comedian's estate on Monday filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan a malpractice lawsuit against the doctors and the Yorkville Endoscopy LLC. As alleged in the complaint, the death of the former star of Fashion Police resulted because of the defendants' reckless and negligent treatment. It also maintained that they violated her privacy and abandoned her when she needed emergency care.
The late reality TV star was undergoing what should have been a fairly routine diagnostic procedure to evaluate voice changes and acid reflux at Yorkville Endoscopy in Manhattan on August 28 when complications occurred. She died later on September 4 at the nearby Mount Sinai Hospital.
As gathered by Fox News, Rivers died as a result of a "therapeutic complication" caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain during a laryngoscopy, a procedure to view the vocal chords, and an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy according to the city medical examiner ruling. The federal investigation later ordered by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services then found that the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic made several errors, including failing to keep proper medication records and snapping cellphone photos of Rivers while she was unconscious. The investigators also found that the Manhattan clinic failed to get informed consent for every procedure performed and failed to record Rivers' weight before the administration of sedation medication.
In a press statement, Melissa, 47, said: "What ultimately guided me was my unwavering belief that no family should ever have to go through what my mother, Cooper [her son] and I have been through. The level of medical mismanagement, incompetency, disrespect and outrageous behavior is shocking and frankly, almost incomprehensible." Her attorneys, Jeffrey Bloom and Ben Rubinowitz, according to Fox News, told reporters: "To put it mildly, we are not just disappointed by the acts and omissions leading to the death of Joan Rivers, but we are outraged by the lack of care and concern for Ms. Rivers on the part of her treating physicians and the endoscopy center where the treatment was rendered."