A Routine Endoscopy, a Comedian's Death, and a Confidential Settlement for the Joan Rivers Estate

Joan Rivers was one of the most recognizable comedians in the United States. Over more than fifty years she worked as a stand-up performer, talk-show host, and red-carpet commentator, and she was hosting the E! series Fashion Police at the time of her death. On August 28, 2014, at age 81, she went to Yorkville Endoscopy, a for-profit outpatient clinic on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, for what was meant to be a routine endoscopy to examine her throat and voice.

During the visit, a specialist performed a laryngoscopy on Rivers' vocal cords, a procedure her family's lawsuit said she had never agreed to. Court papers alleged that an anesthesiologist raised concern about what the throat examination might do to her ability to breathe and was told by the gastroenterologist performing the endoscopy that she was being paranoid. Rivers stopped breathing during the procedure and went into cardiac arrest. Deprived of oxygen, she suffered severe brain damage and died on September 4, 2014.

Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, brought a wrongful-death and medical-malpractice action in Manhattan, naming Yorkville Endoscopy and several of the doctors involved in her mother's care. Gair Gair Conason represented the family, with Jeffrey B. Bloom and Ben B. Rubinowitz handling the case. The claim drew on lapses already documented by federal regulators, who had cited the clinic for a series of failures: no informed consent for the throat examination, no record of Rivers' weight before she was sedated, incomplete medication records, and a physician who took photographs of her while she was unconscious.

In May 2016, the parties settled. The terms were confidential, and the firm disclosed no dollar figure, describing the recovery only as substantial. One element of the agreement stood out. The defendants agreed not to contest the suit's findings, accepting responsibility rather than including the usual clause denying liability.

Melissa Rivers said her goal in pressing the case was to push for higher safety standards in outpatient surgical clinics, so that other families would not go through what hers had. By the time the case resolved, the clinic's medical director, Dr. Lawrence Cohen, who had been present during the procedure, had stepped down from that role.