Joan Rivers: Daughter Melissa sues clinic over the comedian's death
Melissa Rivers has accused the Yorkville Endoscopy Clinic of 'incompetency, disrespect and outrageous behaviour'
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Your support makes all the difference.Melissa Rivers this week filed a malpractice lawsuit against the Manhattan clinic where her mother Joan died last year and its staff.
Joan Rivers died in September 2014 after she suffered brain damagecaused by a lack of oxygen during a routine operation.
Melissa Rivers lists a number of alleged mistakes that Yorkville Endoscopy made, including failure to properly monitor her mother and the doctor taking a photograph of her while she was sedated. Melissa Rivers has asked for unspecified damages.
"Filing this lawsuit was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make," Rivers said in a statement.
"What ultimately guided me was my unwavering belief that no family should ever have to go through what my mother, Cooper [her son] and I have been through. The level of medical mismanagement, incompetency, disrespect and outrageous behavior is shocking and frankly, almost incomprehensible."
"The conduct is unfortunately outrageous," said Rivers' lawyer, Ben Rubinowitz. "Not only is there medical mismanagement but you have a situation where doctors are taking photos of a patient when she needed assistance. They didn't recognize the fact that she wasn't getting sufficient oxygen."
The Independent has contacted Yorkville Endoscopy for comment.