Joan Rivers died from brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen — a “therapeutic complication” from the medical procedure on her throat, the medical examiner said Thursday.
The 81-year-old comedian was sedated with propofol — the drug that was a factor in the death of Michael Jackson — for a routine exploratory exam on Aug. 28 at Manhattan’s Yorkville Endoscopy to diagnose her chronic hoarseness and acid reflux.
Her personal doctor and clinic head, Dr. Lawrence Cohen, performed a biopsy after discovering a polyp-like growth, sources told The Post.
Dr. Gwen Korovin, who was also in the room at the time and assisted Cohen, performed two laryngoscopies to view her vocal chords and they began to swell during the second one, sources told CNN.
Rivers went into cardiac arrest and suffered brain damage. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she died Sept. 4 after being taken off life support.
Her death resulted from what was classified as “a predictable complication.”
Korovin was not authorized to perform the procedure at Yorkville.