Melissa Rivers Files Lawsuit Over Joan Rivers' Death: My Mother Deserved Better

Legendary comedian passed away on Sept. 4

By Lily Harrison Jan 26, 2015 9:56 PMTags
Joan Rivers, Melissa RiversChristopher Polk/Getty Images

Melissa Rivers has just filed a lawsuit against the New York City endoscopy clinic and doctors where Joan Rivers was operated on shortly before her untimely death on Sept. 4.

"Filing this lawsuit was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make," Melissa said in a statement released shortly after the news of the lawsuit went public.

"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."

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

The executive producer of Fashion Police continued, "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."

Just last year, a source told E! News that this lawsuit wasn't "about the money" for Melissa, but rather, a means for her to delve deeper and find answers about her mother's passing.

And what we do know, for now, is that Joan arrived at the Yorkville Endoscopy on Manhattan's Upper East Side on the morning of Aug. 28.

Larry Busacca/NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment

During some point in the procedure, she stopped breathing and was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was placed on life support for one week.

The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner attributed Joan's death at the age of 81 to "therapeutic complication," the exact cause being "anoxic encephalopathy due to hypoxic arrest during laryngoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with propofol sedation for evaluation of voice changes and gastroesophageal reflux disease."

Let's hope the Rivers family gets the answers they so truly deserve.