FILE - In this May 15, 2014 file photo, Melissa Rivers, left, and Joan Rivers attend the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment 2014 Upfront at the Javits Center in New York. Melissa Rivers filed a malpractice lawsuit Monday, Jan. 26, 2015, against doctors and the clinic where her mother Joan Rivers had a routine medical procedure, stopped breathing, and later died. Rivers said in a statement that filing the suit was one of the most difficult decisions she had to make. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Republished January 26, 2015 - 4:00 PM
Original Publication Date January 26, 2015 - 1:30 PM
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Melissa Rivers has filed a malpractice lawsuit against the Manhattan clinic where her mother, Joan Rivers, had an endoscopy and later died.
Rivers also is suing the doctors who treated her mother before her death. She said in a statement that she sued so no other family has to go through what she did. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Yorkville Endoscopy said in a statement it was not appropriate to comment on the lawsuit. It extended condolences to the family.
Joan Rivers died Sept. 4 at age 81. The city's medical examiner found she died of brain damage due to lack of oxygen after she stopped breathing during the procedure.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cited the clinic for failing to identify deteriorating vital signs and provide timely intervention. It could lose its Medicare accreditation.
News from © The Associated Press, 2015