Joan Rivers’ Clinic Doctor Steps Down

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — The medical director of the clinic where Joan Rivers went into cardiac arrest, is out.

 

Dr. Lawrence Cohen, the gastroenterologist who performed the endoscopy on Rivers, “is not currently performing procedures at Yorkville Endoscopy,” the clinic said in a statement to ABC News Radio.

The clinic declined to cite a reason for the change, but a source tells ABC News Radio that Cohen was asked to step down because he allowed a specialist unaffiliated with Yorkville Endoscopy to examine Rivers, even though that doctor was not authorized to practice in the clinic.

There was an unconfirmed report earlier this week that Rivers went into cardiac arrest when her doctor, who had been observing the endoscopy, allegedly was allowed during the procedure to to do an unplanned biopsy, which caused a spasm that cut off Rivers’ air supply, leading to her cardiac arrest. 

A spokesperson for Yorkville Endoscopy said “HIPAA [privacy] laws prevent us from disclosing any information about patients.”

The New York State Health Department opened an investigation into the New York City clinic shortly after Rivers was hospitalized, a move described at the time as routine. 

Rivers, 81, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan August 28 after she experienced cardiac arrest at Yorkville Endoscopy.  The iconic comedian died a week later, having never regained consciousness.

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