Melissa Rivers settles lawsuit with endoscopy clinic where her mother Joan Rivers died
by Sean L. McCarthy May 13, 2016 May 13, 2016
The endoscopy clinic in New York City's Upper East Side where Joan Rivers died after a routine surgery went bad has settled a malpractice lawsuit brought by the legendary comedian's daughter.
In a statement, Melissa Rivers:
The lawsuit concerning my mother's death has been settled. In accepting this settlement, I am able to put the legal aspects of my mother's death behind me and ensure that those culpable for her death have accepted responsibility for their actions quickly and without equivocation. Moving forward, my focus will be to ensure that no one ever has to go through what my mother, Cooper and I went through and I will work towards ensuring higher safety standards in out-patient surgical clinics. I want to express my personal gratitude to my legal team for their wise counsel and prompt resolution of this case.
Joan Rivers had gone into Yorkville Endoscopy in Manhattan for a routine endoscopy in August 2014, and stopped breathing during the procedure. She never recovered, dying days later. She was 81.
Her daughter's lawsuit, filed in 2015 in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, had alleged that her mother's doctors had performed unauthorized procedures on her after putting her under — including taking a biopsy without Joan's consent after the endoscopy, and even taking a selfie photograph while Joan was unconscious.
The official autopsy found that Joan Rivers died due to brain damage from lack of oxygen.
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