The
personal doctor of Joan Rivers is being investigated for the death of
the popular American comedian and television host who died a week after
undergoing a minor throat operation. According to a source cited by the
CNN television network, the doctor performed a biopsy on Rivers’ vocal
cord for which he had no written authorization from the patient or
permission from the New York clinic where the surgery was performed. The doctor also took a “selfie” while the 81-year-old Rivers was under
anesthesia in the operation theatre. Rivers had been admitted Aug 28 to
the clinic where Lawrence Cohen performed the endoscopy, a procedure
which was intended to discover the reason for her throat problems. After the endoscopy, the physician did a biopsy without the knowledge
of Yorkville Endoscopy clinic, which refuses to perform biopsies at its
facilities. Cohen was suspended from the clinic after the
incident. Investigators believe that Rivers’ vocal cords became
inflammed during the biopsy and that led to respiratory failure which in
turn triggered cardiac arrest that killed the comedian. Rivers
was taken from the clinic to Monte Sinai hospital in New York City
where she died Sep 4. Joan Alexandra Molinsky, widely known as Joan
Rivers, was born in Brooklyn, but grew up in the New York City suburb of
Larchmont. She started writing for ‘The Tonight Show’ in 1965, and got
her own show in 1993. Watch: Joan Rivers’ Final Interview With Jess Cagle
