Melissa Rivers has hired a heavy-hitting New York City law firm to investigate the September death of her mother Joan Rivers following an endoscopy procedure.
The top-rated firm of Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman, Mackauf, Bloom & Rubinowitz will consult with Rivers on the next steps to take in determining who is responsible for the death of her 81-year-old mother about a week after the procedure at the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic in Manhattan,
according to Us Weekly.
"In order to fully determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the death of Joan Rivers, we confirm that our firm has been engaged by Melissa Rivers and her family," Ben Rubinowitz, managing partner at Gair, Gair, Conason, told the magazine.
According to U.S. News & World Report, Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman, Mackauf, Bloom & Rubinowitz is the top law firm in the nation in mass tort litigation and No. 1-ranked law firm in New York City for medical malpractice and personal injury.
The New York City Medical Examiner's Office determined that Joan Rivers died from a lack of oxygen to her brain during the procedure,
according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"The cause of Ms. Rivers' death is anoxic encephalopathy due to hypoxic arrest during laryngoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with propofol sedation for evaluation of voice changes and gastroesophageal reflux disease," the medical examiner's report stated, noted THR. "The manner of death is therapeutic complication. The classification of a death as a therapeutic complication means that the death resulted from a predictable complication of medical therapy."
The clinic had pushed back on reports that an unauthorized biopsy was performed on Rivers during the scheduled procedure on Aug. 28. The entertainer was rushed to a nearby hospital in cardiac arrest and she died on Sept. 4.
"A biopsy of the vocal cords has never been performed at Yorkville Endoscopy," the clinic said in a statement in early September, referring to Rivers. "General anesthesia has never been administered."
The clinic had also said at the time that its board-certified anesthesiologists use light to moderate sedation and monitor the patient continuously using state-of-the-art equipment. Yorkville Endoscopy had performed more than 18,000 procedures, according to the clinic.
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