New York Department of Health and Human Services have determined that the clinic where the late comedienne Joan Rivers was treated, “failed to identify deteriorating vital signs and provide timely intervention, ” according to NBC.
Rivers, 81, was suffering from chronic reflux disease and went for laryngoscopy and an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at Yorkville Endoscopy. She went into a hypoxic arrest when not enough oxygen made it to her brain. She passed away on September 4 after having been taken off life support.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at office@jewishbusinessnews.com.
Thank you.
The Health Department found that the clinic failed to have only authorized personnel perform the procedures. The investigation found that an ear nose and throat doctor who was not a member of the staff at Yorkville performed procedures prior to the surgery. The ENT surgeon, according to the witnesses, was only in “for a minute or two” while the intermediate procedures were performed. There were also conflicting accounts on how much Propofol she was given.
Melissa Rivers, Joan Rivers daughter, was seeking legal advice regarding the possible mishandling of her mother’s surgery. A statement was issued on behalf of the firm Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman, Mackauf, Bloom and Rabinowitz, “Ms. Rivers is outraged by the misconduct and the mismanagement now shown to have occurred before. Moving forward, Ms. Rivers will direct her efforts toward ensuring what happened to her mother will not happen again to any other patient.”
