The throat procedure Joan Rivers was receiving at a medical clinic when she quit breathing and went into cardiac arrest on Aug. 28 should have only been performed in a hospital and likely caused her death, TMZ reports.
The doctor, Dr. Lawrence Cohen, at Yorkville Endoscopy, a for-profit center, reportedly performed an unplanned biopsy on her vocal cords. That biopsy cut off her air supply after making her vocal cords seize, and a source for “New York Daily News” said a biopsy like that “should only be done in a hospital setting.” (RELATED: Joan Rivers Best Moments)
Rivers’ death is being investigated by the State Health Department and the city’s medical examiner. Though many are asking questions, the doctors and spokesman for the clinic Marcia Horowitz, cannot provide any answers without permission from the family because of federal privacy laws. (RELATED: Joan Rivers Will Appear In Upcoming Season Of ‘Celebrity Apprentice’)
The clinic opened in February 2013, and has performed over 18,000 procedures since then, but there are no records of complaints against the clinic.