Joan Rivers died of lack of blood oxygen to the brain in a “predictable complication” of throat surgery, according to the New York City Medical Examiner’s office.
The comedienne, 81, died Sept. 4. She was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York on Aug. 28 after she stopped breathing while undergoing the procedure, and was then placed in a medically induced coma.
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The findings were released Thursday in a statement by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner:
“OCME has completed its investigation. The cause of Ms. Rivers’ death is anoxic encephalopathy due to hypoxic arrest during laryngoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with propofol sedation for evaluation of voice changes and gastroesophageal reflux disease. The manner of death is therapeutic complication. The classification of a death as a therapeutic complication means that the death resulted from a predictable complication of medical therapy.”
Propofol was the same anesthesia blamed for the 2009 death of Michael Jackson after the Los Angeles County coroner ruled the singer suffered from “acute propofol intoxication.”
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After Rivers death, reports surfaced that her personal physician, Dr. Gwen Korovin, was present at the procedure and snapped a selfie pic of herself and Rivers during the surgery. Korovin, a New York based ear, nose, and throat specialist with several celebrity clients, was not authorized to practice medicine at the Yorkville Endoscopy center where Rivers’ procedure took place.
Korovin’s office said in a statement, “We do not comment on matters related to patients.”
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Dr. Lawrence B. Cohen, the gastroenterologist who performed the throat surgery on Rivers, has since stopped practicing at the Yorkville Endoscopy center.
Rivers was laid to rest on Sept. 7 in New York at a funeral service attended by several famous stars, including Donald Trump, Whoopi Goldberg, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Griffin, Barbara Walters and Rosie O’Donnell. Howard Stern delivered the eulogy while daughter Melissa Rivers read a letter to her mother. Rivers had previously stated in her book “I Hate Everyone … Starting With Me,” that she wanted her funeral to be, “Hollywood all the way.”
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A replacement for Rivers on her E! show “Fashion Police” has not yet been named. Rivers had hosted the weekly series since its debut in 2010. The cable network aired a special tribute to Rivers, celebrating her time on the show. The Friday night episode earned E! more than 1 million viewers, their highest rated Friday in two years and the highest rated weekly episode of “Fashion Police” ever.
Rivers served as guest host of “The Tonight Show” on several occasions while Johnny Carson was still the star of the series. Rivers received a decades-long ban from the NBC late-night program after she inked a deal for her own show on Fox in 1986. Rivers made her first post-ban appearance on “The Tonight Show” in 2014.