New York health investigators probe Joan Rivers' medical case
NEW YORK -- The New York state health department is investigating the circumstances surrounding Joan Rivers' cardiac arrest during an outpatient procedure, which led to her death.
Spokesman James O'Hare said Thursday the department is looking into "the whole matter," declining to discuss specifics.
Rivers, who broke down barriers with her take-no-prisoners brand of comedy, died Thursday afternoon at Mount Sinai Hospital at the age of 81.
She was at the Upper East Side clinic for an endoscopy. The purpose of that day's procedure was to diagnose the raspiness in her voice, her spokesperson said.
Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, paused for just a moment to see the flowers fans had left at her door Friday, before getting on with the grim business at hand.
"What has the outpouring been like?" Eyewitness News asked.
"Humbling," Melissa Rivers said.
One word. It is all we heard from Melissa Rivers Friday, though some friends are talking.
"By the time I got to the hospital, she was in the medically induced coma," said Deborah Norville in an interview with ABC News for their 20/20 special tonight.
Her close friend Deborah Norville said in an exclusive interview with ABC news that the star went into that Upper East Side clinic for a diagnostic procedure that wasn't to be at all dangerous.
"I personally am really grateful to the health department of New York for launching an investigation, and asking these questions so that that there will be answers. And so that Joan's family is not in the position of having to wonder or of having to drive the process. It's appropriate that the health department should do this," Norville said.
Indeed, the State Health Department is investigating the circumstances that lead to Rivers death, and has interviewed people Yorkville Endoscopy where she stopped breathing during that endoscopy.
TIMELINE
- 9:39 a.m. August 28 - Call to 911 from Yorkville Endoscopy came in.
- 9:46 a.m. August 28 - Paramedics and other first responders were on scene.
- 10:08 a.m. August 28 - Joan Rivers arrived at Mount Sinai Hospital. She was already on life support and her condition at the time, we are told, was near death.
- 1:14 p.m. September 4 - Rivers remained on life support until she was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital.
The Medical Examiners Office performed an autopsy, but they have more questions as well.
Melissa Rivers spent the day making arrangements for her mother's funeral, to be held at Temple Emanuel El near her East Side home, and she visited the funeral home that is making the arrangements.
The funeral will be private, despite Rivers once famously saying she wanted to go out with a "showbiz affair."
"I want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action," she said. "I want Craft services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a scene. I want it to be Hollywood all the way. I don't want some rabbi rambling on; I want Meryl Street crying, in five different accents. I don't want a eulogy; I want Bobby Vinton to pick up my head and sing "Mr. Lonely." I want to look gorgeous, better dead than I do alive. I want to be buried in a Valentino gown, and I want Harry Winston to make me a toe tag. And I want a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyonce's."
Ms. Rivers' assistants meanwhile ordered pizza for the media gathered outside her apartment, saying that is what Joan Rivers did when she was here and the paparazzi were hounding her.
During an illustrative career that last the five decades, she busted through the glass ceiling for female comics in a male-dominated industry.
About a month ago, Rivers tweeted that comedy is truth and we should not apologize for it. They are certainly words that spoke to her absolute fearlessness as a comedian.
Her New York roots gave her a fierce zest for getting laughs, from her own insecurities to the red carpet fashion that was so easy to target. Her final audience was the family members who gathered around her hospital bed.
Rivers was known for her raspy voice and penchant for plastic surgery, as well as for comeback after comeback, from standup to hosting talk shows to writing a dozen books. Rivers said she would never retire, that she would fight to the end.
A spokesperson for Yorkville Endoscopy released a statement saying, "HIPAA laws prevent us from disclosing any information about patients. In the event of an adverse incident,
Yorkville Endoscopy would promptly report to appropriate government and regulatory agencies and would proactively cooperate with any governmental review."
