The circumstances under which Joan Rivers passed away last September were murky and unsettling. Now, there's a new development: ABC News reported today that the facility where Rivers underwent cardiac arrest, Manhattan's Yorkville Endoscopy clinic, will lose its federal accreditation at the end of this month.
Originally, Rivers was admitted into the clinic for an endoscopy, a scheduled procedure conducted by the clinic's medical director. But, while Rivers remained under anesthesia, another doctor, not certified by the clinic and described as Rivers' personal ear, nose, and throat specialist, began to perform a biopsy on Rivers' vocal cords. It was then that Rivers went into cardiac arrest.
As CNN reported, investigators believe the cardiac arrest occurred when the biopsy caused Rivers' vocal cords to swell and cut off the flow of oxygen to her lungs. The clinic denied the claim that any kind of biopsy took place, most likely because, regardless of who performed the procedure, it would have been done without Rivers' consent. Plus, there's the report (from clinic staff members) that Rivers' doctor paused to take a selfie while Joan was unconscious in the background.
While we may never know the whole story of what happened at Yorkville Endoscopy, the facility's loss of accreditation is sadly indicative of the role it played in Rivers' passing. This news arrives after Rivers' expectedly hilarious book dedication page (from Diary of a Mad Diva) recently made the rounds on Reddit. This — Rivers' immortal humor, not her possible-selfie-taking ENT — is what we prefer to remember her by.