Joan Rivers died from ‘predictable complication of medical therapy’

Joan Rivers’ death “resulted from a predictable complication of medical therapy,” the New York medical examiner’s office concluded Thursday after an autopsy of the comedian, who died last month after she stopped breathing during an outpatient procedure.

Her cause of death was “anoxic encephalopathy due to hypoxic arrest” during the Aug. 28 procedure, the medical examiner’s office said. That means her brain was not receiving enough oxygen.

Rivers was sedated with propofol during the procedure -- a laryngoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy that was intended to evaluate voice changes and gastroesophageal reflux disease, the office said.

The “Fashion Police” star was rushed from Yorkville Endoscopy to Manhattan’s Mt. Sinai Hospital after she stopped breathing during the procedure. She did not regain consciousness after arriving at the hospital, and daughter Melissa Rivers had her taken off life support Sept. 4.

New York state health officials said last month that they were examining Yorkville Endoscopy and the circumstances surrounding Rivers’ procedure and its complications.

On Thursday, a spokesman said the state’s Department of Health had completed its investigation and sent its findings to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services but would not say what those findings were. A spokeswoman for the federal agency said she could not immediately provide information about the investigation.

Two weeks after Rivers’ procedure, the clinic said it had parted ways with one of its doctors. Dr. Lawrence Cohen is no longer medical director there and no longer performs procedures there, a spokeswoman for the clinic told the Associated Press in mid-September.

As of Thursday, Cohen’s photo and bio still appeared on the clinic’s website. The clinic did not return calls seeking comment.

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