News: JUST IN: RIP Joan Rivers, daughter announces her passing

UPDATE

News: Joan Rivers' routine surgery went wrong after 'her own doctor performed a surprise biopsy'

The routine medical procedure that Joan Rivers underwent last month that led to her tragic death a week later went catastrophically wrong when her own personal doctor performed a surprise biopsy on her vocal cords, according to a source with knowledge of the legendary comic's death.

According to the source, the 81-year-old had not signed off on the biopsy before undergoing surgery at Yorkville Endoscopy in Manhattan on August 28 and the procedure, which was carried out by the member of her entourage, is highly irregular outside of a hospital.

The biopsy allegedly caused Rivers' vocal cords to spasm and her airways to constrict and the source claimed that had the procedure been done in a hospital the comedian might not have died after doctors placed her in a medically induced coma after she went into cardiac arrest that morning.

The doctor who performed the biopsy did so with medical instruments from Yorkville Endoscopy after their own medical professional noticed 'something' on Rivers' vocal cords during the routine surgery, said the source who spoke with the New York Daily News.

'He asked and they let him,' the source said to the New York Daily News. 'A huge no-no.'

The Fashion Police star had only agreed to undergo an endoscopy at the Upper East Side clinic said the source and not the more risky biopsy, which would have tested whatever was removed for cancerous cells.

'A biopsy like that should only be done in a hospital setting,' the source said to the New York Daily News.

'If she had been in a hospital when it happened, she might have been okay,' the source said.

No one from Rivers' team commented on the new revelations and a spokesperson for Yorkville refused to make a statement, citing obvious patient confidentiality clauses.

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UPDATE

Photo: The New Yorker releases cartoon memorialization of Joan Rivers + More cryptic evidence surrounding her death emerges

No one could ever forget the quick-witted Joan Rivers, and The New Yorker certainly captured that fact this weekend.
The magazine recently released their cartoon memorialization of the Fashion Police host, who passed away this week, and they did a great job of capturing Joan’s funny and sarcastic essence.
The cartoon, created by Benjamin Schwartz, shows Joan up in heaven, telling the gatekeeper:

“If this is a sentimental cartoon tribute, I’m gonna vomit.”

How very Joan.
Meanwhile, more cryptic evidence surrounding Joan’s death is emerging.
The hospital where Joan had complications is speaking out about the throat surgery-gone-wrong, explaining that they were prepared for the worst.

TMZ reports:

Sources connected to the clinic tell us Joan’s room contained state of the art resuscitation devices … including a cardiac defibrillator and instruments to clear a patient’s blocked airway. As you’d expect … all the nurses and physicians are certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, we’re told.
Further, we’ve learned the NY Health Dept has already visited the clinic to review documentation related to Joan’s case, and to interview staff members who treated Joan.
The review will, no doubt, include determining whether anesthesia was administered to Joan, and by whom. We’re told Yorkville employs in-house anesthesiologists who are board certified.

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UPDATE

Video: Joan Rivers' casket being carried into a hearse 

Joan Rivers' casket was transported to a New Jersey crematorium yesterday, Saturday September 07. In the video below, daughter Melissa Rivers says her goodbyes outside New York City's Frank E. Campbell funeral home. 

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UPDATE

News: Joan Rivers autopsy results released

An autopsy performed on late comedienne Joan Rivers found no clear “cause and manner of death,” according to TMZ.

The Medical Examiner’s Office tells us they’ve completed the physical examination of Joan’s body, but could not find a clear “cause and manner of death” … pending further studies.
We’re told those further studies will include conducting toxicology testing, and interviewing medical professionals who were present during the throat procedure Joan was getting last week when she stopped breathing.

TBW will keep you updated.
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UPDATE

News: Clinic That Treated Joan Rivers Under Investigation

The New York state health department is investigating the circumstances surrounding Joan Rivers' cardiac arrest during an outpatient procedure at Yorkville Endoscopy on the Upper East Side.Spokesman James O'Hare said Thursday the department is looking into "the whole matter," declining to discuss specifics. The 81-year-old comic and red carpet commentator died Thursday at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.
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BREAKING: Joan Rivers has died, her daughter announces
— msnbc (@msnbc) September 4, 2014 

"It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers," Melissa Rivers said in a prepared statement. "She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. surrounded by family and close friends."
"My mother’s greatest joy in life was to make people laugh...I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon"
She died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York at the age of 81.
She will definitely be missed. May her soul RIP- Amen.