Joan Rivers’ daughter Melissa filed a malpractice lawsuit on Monday against the New York clinic that treated her mother just days before her death. Among other things, the suit says clinic doctors were not adequately trained and failed to detect that their patient’s vital signs were dropping. Also, according to the suit, those same doctors posed for selfies with the sedated Joan while her vital signs were dropping.
The lawsuit also claims that the clinic allowed a doctor who was not authorized to be there to conduct a procedure that Rivers had not consented to.
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The lawsuit was filed against Yorkville Endoscopy, the clinic where Rivers underwent a throat procedure on Aug. 28. At some point the renowned comedienne went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to Mount Sinai, where she eventually died.
Melissa Rivers said that filing the lawsuit was one of the most difficult decisions she had to make.
“What ultimately guided me was my unwavering belief that no family should ever have to go through what my mother, Cooper and I have been through, ” she said, referring to her son. “The level of medical mismanagement, incompetency, disrespect and outrageous behavior is shocking and frankly, almost incomprehensible.”
The NYC medical examiner found that Joan Rivers died of brain damage due to lack of oxygen after she stopped breathing during the endoscopy. Her death was classified as a therapeutic complication, and there’s no indication in the ME’s report that negligence was suspected as a contributing cause.
A statement from Yorkville said: “The Rivers family has, as it has always had, our deepest sympathies and condolences. The 51 physicians, nurses and staff who currently work at Yorkville remain firmly committed to providing the highest quality of care to their patients.”
Good luck to all of them…
