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Report: Joan Rivers doctor took selfie, began biopsy, source says

Joan Rivers' personal ear-nose-throat doctor may have taken a selfie in the operating room while the comic was sedated for an upper endoscopy, CNN reported Tuesday.
(Jeff Schear / Getty Images)
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Joan Rivers’ personal ear-nose-throat doctor took a selfie while the comic was under sedation and began an unplanned biopsy on her vocal cords before the 81-year-old went into cardiac arrest, CNN reported Tuesday.

A staff member at the Yorkville Endoscopy Clinic was the one who told investigators about the picture-taking, according to a source CNN described as close to the death investigation. The physician has not been identified.

The ENT doctor’s alleged presence in the operating room was first reported last week by the New York Daily News, with sources telling the New York Times that he wasn’t authorized to be there.

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The “spur-of-the-moment” biopsy caused Rivers’ vocal cords to seize up in what’s called a laryngospasm, the Daily News source said.

The clinic had countered the biopsy allegation last Wednesday, saying in a statement that a “biopsy of vocal cords has never been performed at Yorkville Endoscopy,” adding that although “monitored” or “light to moderate” sedation occurred at the clinic, general anesthesia was never administered. The statement referred to clinic procedures in general, not the Rivers case specifically.

Rivers was rushed from the Upper East Side clinic to Manhattan’s Mt. Sinai Hospital on Aug. 28 after she reportedly stopped breathing during the outpatient procedure, an upper endoscopy, in which a tiny camera was inserted in her throat to examine that part of the digestive system.

She did not regain consciousness after arriving at the hospital, and daughter Melissa Rivers had her taken off life support on Sept. 4.

Dr. Lawrence B. Cohen, who according to the CNN source did the upper endoscopy, stepped down last week as Yorkville medical director and was no longer performing procedures there, a clinic spokeswoman said.

The New York State Department of Health has said it is investigating.

Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ and Google+. Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter @LATcelebs.

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