Joan Rivers’ daughter Melissa has sued the clinic where her mother stopped breathing

Joan Rivers’ daughter Melissa has sued the clinic where her mother stopped breathing

The suit names the clinic and five doctors on charges of negligence in the August 2014 procedure that led to the death of the legendary comic.

In a move that surprises no one, Melissa Rivers has filed a multi-million dollar suit against the New York clinic where her mother Joan stopped breathing.

The legendary comedienne, 81, was undergoing a endoscopy in Manhattan’s Yorkville Endoscopy in August of last year when her vital signs plummeted and her brain was deprived of oxygen. She left the clinic in a coma and died seven days later.

The NY Daily News reports that the suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday, accuses the clinic, its credentialing and ownership company, and five doctors of negligence. Among the doctors are Rivers’ personal doctor Gail Korovin, who is alleged to have performed the unplanned biopsy on Rivers’ throat, causing the laryngospasm that closed her throat and deprived her of oxygen.

The suit also alleges that the doctors ignored the warnings of the acting anesthesiologist (Renuka Bankulla, named in the suit) and allowed Rivers’ vital signs to plummet for 17 minutes instead of performing a tracheotomy, which would have reopened the flow of oxygen. The suit mentions the rumor that a doctor was taking selfies during the procedure, naming the clinic’s head doctor Lawrence Cohen as the photographer.

Cohen has lost his job at the clinic and the clinic itself is in danger of losing its federal accreditation in March.

In a statement, Melissa Rivers, 47, reported that she had decided to sue to prevent another tragedy from occurring. Rivers said, “the level of medical mismanagement, incompetency, disrespect, and outrageous behavior is shocking and frankly almost incomprehensible.”

She added, “Not only did my mother deserve better, every patient deserves better.”

The clinic has not formally commented on the suit.

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