Joan Rivers‘s cause of death has been confirmed as a complication during surgery that caused her brain to be starved of oxygen.
The late comedian had been sedated with Propofol for the procedure, which was being carried out to investigate voice changes and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Julie Bolcer of the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office stated: “OCME [Office of Chief Medical Examiner] has completed its investigation. The cause of Ms Rivers’ death is anoxic encephalopathy [brain damage due to lack of oxygen] due to hypoxic arrest during laryngoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with Propofol sedation for evaluation of voice changes and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
“The manner of death is therapeutic complication. The classification of a death as a therapeutic complication means that the death resulted from a predictable complication of medical therapy.”
Joan’s daughter Melissa Rivers subsequently released the following statement: “We continue to be saddened by our tragic loss and grateful for the enormous outpouring of love and support from around the world.”
Rivers passed away on September 4 at the age of 81, drawing tributes from numerous figures including Barack Obama, Fashion Police co-host Kelly Osbourne and Louis CK.
Rivers’s funeral took place in Manhattan on September 7, with Whoopi Goldberg, Howard Stern and Barbara Walters among the attendees, as well as Donald Trump, Kristin Chenoweth and Kathie Lee Gifford.
Source: Digital Spy