Joan Rivers, who died last Thursday at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, actually died because of an “unplanned biopsy” done while she was having a routine throat procedure performed, says The New York Daily News.
According to an unnamed medical source, while Joan Rivers was at Yorkville Endoscopy for a routine vocal cord surgery on Thursday, August 28th, the doctor performing the procedure noticed something on Rivers’ vocal cords. Reportedly, a doctor in Joan’s entourage volunteered to perform an impromptu biopsy. The doctor, who identifies himself as an “ear, throat and nose specialist,” asked if he could use the clinic’s instruments to perform the biopsy, and the clinic agreed.
The source said that’s outrageous.
“He asked and they let him. A huge no-no.”
The source said that Joan Rivers’ vocal chords seized during the biopsy, causing the legendary comedian to stop breathing, adding that usually such procedures are only performed in hospitals.
“A biopsy like that should only be done in a hospital setting. If she had been in a hospital when it happened, she might have been okay.”
When Joan Rivers stopped breathing, emergency services were summoned. The New York Fire Department was the first to arrive, and they took Joan to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York where doctors sedated Rivers until they could be “comfortable” with her condition – effectively placing Rivers in a medically-induced coma.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, doctors started bringing Rivers out of the coma on Saturday, August 30th, a complex process that wasn’t to be complete until the following Tuesday. It’s unclear if Rivers ever regained consciousness. She was moved out of the ICU and into a private room where she died on Thursday, September 4th at 81 years of age.
An initial autopsy of Joan Rivers was performed and the findings were inconclusive. Further tests were needed, officials said.
The New York State Department of Health had already launched a general review of Yorkville Endoscopy, but now the New York City Police Department is investigating Joan Rivers’ death as well, a police source told The Hollywood Reporter.
“We investigate all such deaths, meaning ‘not by natural causes.’ Although it might end up being ruled natural by the [medical examiner], when it’s not readily apparent, we investigate.”
Joan Rivers’ funeral was held on Sunday with a star-studded affair that included Howard Stern, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Barbara Walters, Hugh Jackman, Whoopi Goldberg and Kelly and Ozzy Osbourne.
image via Fusion
