Attorneys for the estate said they are suing for damages and said the family wants to “make certain that the many medical deficiencies that led to Joan Rivers’ death are never repeated by any outpatient surgery center.”
The lawsuit alleges that the doctors who performed the procedure at Manhattan’s Yorkville Endoscopy clinic were “reckless, grossly negligent and wanton.”
The lawsuit says they performed procedures to which Rivers did not consent.
It also alleges that one of the doctors did not have credentials or privileges to treat patients at the facility.
Clinic that did Joan Rivers’ procedure to be cut off Medicare
The comedian went to the medical center for a procedure to evaluate her “voice changes” and to determine what was causing her stomach reflux, according to the New York medical examiner.
The lawsuit says Rivers signed an authorization and gave her consent to let the doctors perform an upper endoscopy, or EGD, with possible biopsy/possible polypectomy and possible dilation of the esophagus. It was unclear if Rivers had given verbal consent to any other procedure before being sedated. The lawsuit maintains she did not.
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“As a matter of personal and professional policy, Dr. Korovin does not publicly discuss her patients or their care and treatment. Further, Dr. Korovin is prohibited by state and federal confidentiality laws from discussing her care and treatment of any particular patient.
“For these reasons, neither Dr. Korovin nor her attorneys will have any public comment on recent press reports regarding her practice. We ask that the press please respect Dr. Korovin’s personal and professional policy of not discussing her patients, as well as the privacy of her patients,” the statement said.
In reaction to the lawsuit, Rivers’ daughter, Melissa Rivers, released a statement.
“Filing this lawsuit was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make,” said Rivers. “What ultimately guided me was my unwavering belief that no family should ever have to go through what my mother, Cooper and I have been through.
“The level of medical mismanagement, incompetency, disrespect and outrageous behavior is shocking and, frankly, almost incomprehensible,” Rivers said. “Not only did my mother deserve better, every patient deserves better. It is my goal to make sure that this kind of horrific medical treatment never happens to anyone again.”
Debra Goldschmidt of CNN contributed to this report
