Joan Rivers’ Daughter Hires Law Firm to Investigate Death of Comic

Melissa Rivers hires New York law firm to investigate the circumstances behind mother Joan Rivers’ death.

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Melissa Rivers, the daughter of comedian Joan Rivers, has hired a New York law firm to investigate the circumstances behind her mother’s death from complication during an outpatient throat procedure, the firm said on Tuesday.

The move could ultimately lead to Melissa Rivers filing a civil lawsuit against the clinic where her mother was treated.

“In order to fully determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the death of Joan Rivers, we confirm that our firm has been engaged by Melissa Rivers and her family,” Ben Rubinowitz, a partner at Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman, Mackauf, Bloom & Rubinowitz, said in a statement.

Rubinowitz declined to comment further or say if Melissa Rivers intended to file a lawsuit.

Rivers, 81, died in hospital on Sept. 4, a week after she stopped breathing during an examination of the back of her throat and vocal cords at Manhattan’s Yorkville Endoscopy.

New York’s medical examiner determined the brash comedian who paved the way for women died from anoxic encephalopathy, a condition caused when brain tissue is deprived of oxygen and there is brain damage, New York’s medical examiner determined.

Following Rivers’ death, the State Health Department launched an investigation into the clinic where Rivers was treated.