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Joan Rivers was reportedly given too much propofol during the medical procedures that led to her death. New details about the tragedy have emerged via a report from New York State’s Department of Health and Human Services.
As Gossip Cop reported, Rivers was sedated at Yorkville Endoscopy Center for an upper endoscopy to treat acid reflux and evaluate changes to her voice when she stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest. After several days in a coma, daughter Melissa made the heart wrenching decision to take Rivers off life support on September 4. She was 81.
According to the department’s investigation, there’s no record of Rivers being weighed before she was put under with propofol, and without weighing a patient, it cannot be accurately or safely determined how much of the drug to give. To make matters worse, a staff member reportedly admitted to wrongly inputting into the computer more than twice the dosage the comedienne should’ve received.
As previously reported, the department also says that Rivers’ personal doctor, Gwen Korovin, performed an authorized procedure, a laryngoscopy, even though she did not have credentials to be in the operating room at Yorkville. The department’s report also confirms sources’ prior claims that Kovin posed for a photo with Rivers while she was unconscious, claiming that the star supposedly wanted it.
Furthermore, the report states that the doctors were initially unaware that Rivers’ oxygen levels were dropping, and time is crucial during such medical emergencies. The findings suggest that a series of human errors proved to be fatal for the comedy icon. The Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) corroborated the findings, and says that the facility now has until January 7 to make changes to its protocol, or funding will be terminated.
As Gossip Cop reported, the official cause of death announced last month said Rivers died from anoxic encephalopathy due to hypoxic arrest, a lack of oxygen to her brain. The medical examiner further said that Rivers’ death was a “predictable complication of medical therapy.”
In response, Melissa tweeted, “In response to NYC’s Medical examiner’s report, we continue to be saddened by our tragic loss. No further comment at this time.” It is widely expected that she will file a wrongful death lawsuit against various parties involved. More than five years prior to Rivers’ death, Michael Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication, with Dr. Conrad Murray eventually being convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
In a new statement via her law firm, Rivers says, “Our client, Melissa Rivers, is terribly disappointed to learn of the multiple failings on the part of medical personnel and the clinic as evidenced by the CMS report. As any of us would be, Ms. Rivers is outraged by the misconduct and mismanagement now shown to have occurred before, during and after the procedure. Moving forward, Ms. Rivers will direct her efforts towards ensuring that what happened to her mother will not occur again with any other patient.”
