In 1965, Joan Rivers married her second husband, Edgar Rosenberg, and they had one child, Melissa. When Dad died in 1987, the mother-daughter duo mourned together, but the comedian pulled herself up and moved on.
On July 2, 2022, a documentary called “Our History” detailed the harrowing account of how Rivers ultimately joined her late husband in the afterlife. On August 27, 2014, around 10:45 p.m., she was having dinner with her friend, Jay Redack, in Midtown Manhattan, New York, when the subject of death came up.
The standup comedy superstar was overjoyed with the path of her career. They spoke about dying with Redack. He promised to leave the star a picture if he died first, while she promised to give him her daughter and some of her shoes if he died first.
Rivers also mentioned that she had a treatment scheduled for the next morning to deal with the raspiness in her voice, but she didn’t appear concerned about it. The procedure was intended to go well because the actress didn’t smoke and just drank wine on occasion.
She stayed healthy by taking minerals and vitamins and exercising regularly. The star informed a journalist days before the treatment that she coughed a lot and that her voice was hoarse.
Rivers’ voice was everything to her; without it, she couldn’t make a livelihood, and her profession meant everything to her even at the age of 81. However, she died as a result of complications during her elective procedure at Yorkville Endoscopy.
Days later, on September 4, 2014, the comedian died at Manhattan’s Mount Sinai Hospital from a lack of oxygen to the brain. The events leading up to Rivers’ death are detailed here.
Rivers’ ears, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, Dr. Gwen Korovin, would be present in the operating room. Dr. Lawrence Cohen, the medical director of Yorkville Endoscopy, greeted Korovin.
To acquire a clear picture of how the comic died, medical data were checked, interviews were conducted, and documentation was produced. According to the study, physicians “failed to identify deteriorating vital signs and provide timely intervention during the procedure.”
Posted on August 27, 2014, 8:44 p.m.
The actress’ heart rate was 62, her blood pressure was 118/80, and her blood oxygen content (SpO2) was 100 percent, as predicted. She got up early the next morning to prepare for her surgery.
Monday, August 28, 2014, 9:00 a.m. Right up to 9:04 a.m.
Rivers’ esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) surgery began at nine a.m. She met Korovin in the procedure room four minutes before a “time-out” was called. During this time, the technician double-checked that they had the correct person for the procedure, rather than the anesthesiologist, as hospital policy requires.
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Korovin took the lead by performing a laryngoscopy while the celebrity was anesthetized. The procedure was halted when the ENT confessed that she couldn’t see what she was attempting to see well but continued anyhow.
9:12 a.m. Only until 9:21 a.m.
Soon after the treatment began, the actress’ vital signs began “deviating,” with her blood pressure plunging to 117/60. Rivers’ SpO2 level had risen to 92 percent, her pulse had increased to 71, and her blood pressure had dropped to 56 at 9:16 a.m.
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Her SpO2 level increased to 94 percent, but her pulse rate decreased to 56. Her pulse was 54 by 9:21 a.m. and continued to fall, while her blood pressure was now 89/44 and her SpO2 was 97 percent.
9:26 a.m. Only until 9:28 a.m.
Her vitals continued to fluctuate, with her pulse decreasing to 47, her blood pressure at 84/40, and her SpO2 falling below average at 92 percent. Korovin performed the EGD operation two minutes later, utilizing the laryngoscope to go in for one or two minutes.
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The anesthesiologist and Cohen supposedly had no problems with the ENT doing the laryngoscopy. Investigators later discovered that the operation note had failed to document all of the personnel participating in the surgery, and each person’s position was unclear to all.
Procedures that had to be conducted were not vetted ahead of time, and just a few people in the room signed off on the record in accordance with policy standards. The technician stated that neither the initial nasolaryngoscopy before the EGD nor the second one after the surgery had a timeout.
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When Korovin returned for the second time, Cohen assumed Rivers would want to see her healing area, so he snapped a snapshot with his phone. The medical director ended the EGD at 9:28 a.m., but there are two versions of what happened after that.
Version 1: 9:28 a.m. Right up to 9:38 a.m.
Korovin attempted another nasolaryngoscopy, but the patient went into cardiac arrest, necessitating CPR. Two minutes later, her ENT removed the laryngoscope, and CPR was restarted before Korovin removed the scope.
Doctors accepted blame for the comedian’s death in March 2016.
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Melissa’s mother had no pulse at this time; her blood pressure was 85/49, and her SpO2 level was 92 percent. Epinephrine and atropine were delivered at 9:38 a.m. The second account of events was quite different.
9:28 a.m. is the second version. Up until 10:04 a.m.
The actress had a pulse but had a dangerously fast heartbeat. She was resuscitated at 10:00 a.m. using epinephrine and atropine; four minutes later, she was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she died a week later at 1:15 p.m.
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Melissa filed a case against the New York City clinic after the unexpected death of her mother. She and Rivers’ family battled for justice by laying out what the physicians did wrong that day, and they won a bittersweet triumph.
Melissa filed a malpractice complaint against Yorkville Endoscopy in 2015. According to her complaint, no discussion was had regarding Korovin doing the transnasal laryngoscopy, and the anesthesiologist, Renuka Bankulla, reportedly questioned the ENT’s permission on the subject.
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Cohen disregarded Bankulla, who was struggling to keep Rivers’ SpO2 stable during the surgery. According to the lawsuit, the comedian’s vitals were not appropriately checked since they continued decreasing, and Korovin wanted to do another laryngoscopy following the EGD.
When Bankulla complained, he was labeled “paranoid. Despite the possibility of discomfort from the medical tools, the ENT procedure went forward. Melissa also addressed claims that physicians took images of her mother while she was asleep, including the one Cohen supposedly snapped.
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The actress’ heart rate slowed dangerously after the EGD, and physicians saw that her oxygen levels were decreasing, but no one intervened. Cohen finally spoke up, expecting Korovin to help Rivers, but the ENT had already departed.
911 dispatched an ambulance within twelve minutes after her vitals fell. Melissa claimed that none of those there were qualified to “handle the medical emergency. Yorkville Endoscopy was about to lose its federal certification as a result of this.
Doctors accepted responsibility for the comedian’s death in March 2016, and a “substantial” settlement was negotiated, although the amount was not disclosed. Cohen was sacked as the medical director who kept Rivers from reaching the age of 90 in June 2023.