Melissa Rivers and Joan Rivers attended the 2014 NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Upfronts on May 15, 2014 in New York City. (Photo : Getty Images/ Astrid Stawiarz)
Melissa Rivers announced on May 12, Thursday, that she settled her medical practice lawsuit against the New York endoscopy clinic that treated her mother Joan Rivers before her death in 2014. Melissa sued Yorkville Endoscopy in 2015 and claimed negligence after her mother went into cardiac arrest.
Melissa filed the lawsuit against the clinic to make sure that nobody will have the same experience as her mother. She sought for undetermined damages, according to ABC News.
"In accepting this settlement, I am able to put the legal aspects of my mother's death behind me, " Melissa told the publication in a statement. She added that she was able to ensure that the people culpable for Joan's death have taken responsibility for their actions "quickly and without equivocation."
In the statement, Melissa also said that she will ensure that noone will go through, what she and Joan went through. She promised that she will be working hard at keeping higher safety standards in outpatient surgical clinics.
Melissa sued a number of medical professionals in the clinic, including former Yorkville Endoscopy medical director Dr. Lawrence Cohen and anesthesiologist Robert Koniuta.
Dr. Gwen Korovin, Joan's personal ear, nose and throat doctor, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Korovin was reportedly not permitted in the room during the time Joan went through her routine procedure.
A spokesman for the Yorkville Endoscopy claimed that both parties agreed to a settlement to prevent protracted litigation.
In the lawsuit, Melissa alleged that Korovin should not have been allowed to go into the operating room. Korovin reportedly went into the room and performed unauthorized transnasal laryngoscopy.
Cohen was reportedly negligent about the procedure done by Korovin. Following laryngoscopy, Cohen started endoscopy when Joan's blood pressure, pulse and oxygen levels went down considerably.
Instead of noticing the laboratory changes with Joan, Cohen took photos of the comedian claiming the latter would like to see the photos in the recovery room. It was too late when the medical professionals discovered Joan's dropping vital signs.
Joan passed away in September 2014, days following her cardiac arrest in the clinic. She died following a throat procedure at the New York clinic.
In other news, it was revealed that Joan stopped breathing while undergoing the procedure. She suffered fatal brain damage due to insufficient oxygen leading to her death, according to E! News.
At the time, Melissa claimed that filing the malpractice lawsuit was one of the toughest decisions she had made in her life. The degree of medical mismanagement, incompetency, disrespect, and outrageous behavior is shocking and frankly, almost inexplicable, she told the magazine.
Check the video below of Melissa lawsuit settlement against the Yorkville clinic:
