Joan Rivers' personal doctor took a selfie while the comedian was under anesthesia and performed an unplanned biopsy on her after a New York City clinic medical director finished his scheduled endoscopy on the
81-year-old, a source told CNN this week.
The selfie snapper, who is reportedly Rivers' personal ear, nose, and throat specialist, was not certified to perform a biopsy at Manhattan's Yorkville Endoscopy clinic,
a staff member told investigators, according to The New York Times.
Rivers went into cardiac arrest and later died after the fateful procedure that took place the morning of August 28.
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The new report of an alleged selfie photo brought up not only ethical, but professional concerns on social media.
Yorkville Endoscopy has denied that a biopsy of Rivers' vocal cords was performed at the clinic but declined to release any further information because of federal privacy laws. Yorkville also told CNN that the doctor who performed the original endoscopy, Dr. Lawrence Cohen, was no longer serving as medical director there or doing medical procedures.
The state health department is now taking a harder look at the Yorkville clinic, though the facility is not under
criminal investigation, the New York Daily News reported.
Rivers never regained consciousness following the procedure and was put in a medically-induced coma. She died Sept. 4 after she was removed from life support.
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