Court Papers Prove Doc Took Selfie With Sedated Joan Rivers, And His Motive Is Mind-Boggling

In the ongoing legal battle between Joan Rivers‘ daughter, Melissa, and the New York City clinic accused of negligence in the comedian’s death, new court papers have finally confirmed a sickening rumor — that doctors took a selfie with the 81-year-old as she lay unconscious.

This disturbing detail was among a series of court papers made public Tuesday. Rumors have long circulated that Dr. Lawrence Cohen at Yorkville Endoscopy, where Joan had what was supposed to be an outpatient procedure, had taken a photo with the star while she was sedated.

Court papers suggest the act was actually recorded in Joan’s medical records, the New York Daily News reported.

Anesthesiologist Renuka Bankulla made note of the selfie with Rivers in clinic records — the medical examiner also included it in his report, Yahoo! Celebrity added. Bankulla also verified the selfie in an interview, in which she said Dr. Cohen “took out his mobile phone and took photos of Dr. Korovin with (Miss Rivers).” Dr. Gwen Korovin was the star’s personal ear, nose, and throat physician.

Melissa’s lawyers say the clinic’s own director has also admitted that several staff members who were in the room during the procedure corroborated that Dr. Cohen had snapped pictures with Joan.

The doctor has denied that that he took the selfie, despite the paper trail, though the court papers also reveal his motive: he thought Joan would want to see the photos later.

Instead, the comedian never awoke from sedation. In her daughter’s negligence lawsuit, she’s accused the clinic of botching what should’ve been a simple endoscopy. The suit alleges that Joan’s vital signs plunged, and yet doctors did nothing, causing her to have a heart attack, suffer a coma, and then brain damage from lack of oxygen. She died on September 4.

“I think the selfie … There was a story circulating that, during the procedure, the doctors were taking selfies of themselves, with my mother, while they were working on my mom. If something happens and everyone does everything properly, things happen. You live with it. When it’s error after error after error after error after behaviors that you cannot even begin to get your head around, you get mad.”

Meanwhile, a medical malpractice attorney, Michael Lamonsoff — who is not connected to Rivers’ lawsuit — told Closer Weekly that she has a very strong case against the clinic. Lamonsoff pointed out several obvious issues, starting with Dr. Korovin, who wasn’t credentialed to work at Yorkville and yet performed two throat scopes on Rivers that day.

And that opens up another question for the attorney: after those two scopes, Dr. Cohen then did an exploratory procedure on Rivers’ digestive tract.

“That is a lot of procedures for an 81-year-old woman to have at once,” he wondered. “Why three procedures?”

As for the selfie, Lamonsoff said the doctors were making a “spectacle of her and themselves.”

[Photo Courtesy Angela Weiss / Getty Images]