Joan Rivers’ death could have been preventable, according to new reports out on Monday. The investigation into the comedienne’s untimely death has uncovered some vital information that suggests that Joan’s life could have been saved had her doctors responded to her declining health in a timely fashion. According to Page Six , Dr. Lawrence Cohen of Yorkville Endoscopy and Rivers’ own ear, nose, and throat specialist, Dr. Gwen Korovin, continued working on Joan’s throat despite signs that her body was going into shock. In fact, new information suggests that the doctors ignored those warning signs for a whole 14 minutes.
“She had no heartbeat, no pulse, she wasn’t breathing. She had cyanosis around the lips and the mouth — that’s when your lips turn blue from lack of oxygen. That takes several minutes without oxygen,” said a source. “They should have stopped the procedure and started resuscitation right away and done an emergency tracheotomy if there was any obstruction. Maybe she would still be alive.”
Joan Rivers’ daughter, Melissa Rivers, is suing Yorkville Endoscopy and her mother’s doctors in hopes of holding someone responsible for Joan’s death. As previously reported by the Inquisitr , Melissa also wants to make sure that this sort of thing doesn’t happen to other patients in the future.
“Melissa has said it herself: She’s not looking to make money. She’s looking to hold someone accountable for what happened to her mother.”
According to Radar Online , Rivers was in critical condition by the time EMT’s arrived at the clinic. While they were able to resuscitate her, the harm had already been done. Joan’s brain had gone without oxygen for longer than five minutes, which caused significant brain damage. Had her doctors performed CPR, and got Joan breathing again in those 14 minutes, perhaps she wouldn’t have lost brain function. This, of course, is a big reason why Melissa Rivers is suing.
“At this point, something has gone wrong, the procedure must come to an end, and she needs to be resuscitated. If they interceded then, she would probably still be on TV today making fun of what people are wearing,” said an EMT not affiliated with the case.
Joan Rivers was placed on life support at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. Her daughter made the courageous decision to take her mother off of life support exactly one week later. Rivers passed away on September 4.
[Photo courtesy of Brian Bowen Smith/E!]
