New developments have come to light in the tragic death of Joan Rivers. I feel it is right to call her death “tragic” as her procedure was elective and apparently her physicians played the procedure as though a comedy. It sounds almost oxymoronic; a serious tragedy happened to someone who was very funny and those who should have been serious were playing the roles of clowns.
In an article for CNN by Susan Candiotti and Alan Duke (September 17, 2014) entitled: “Source: Joan Rivers’ doctor took selfie, began biopsy before her cardiac arrest,” we learn that:
“A staff member at Manhattan’s Yorkville Endoscopy clinic told investigators that the doctor, who has not been publicly identified, took a selfie photo in the procedure room while Rivers was under anesthesia, the source said.”
The same doctor soon after allegedly performed a biopsy that had not been authorized by the patient.
We need to go back just a bit. Joan Rivers was 81 years old and as an elderly person surgery always carries a bit more risk. She initially went into the clinic for what is known as an endoscopy by a gastroenterologist. The procedure involves the insertion of a tiny camera down the throat of a sedated patient to determine any number of things; in Joan Rivers’ case, they wanted to learn why her voice was raspy. After that procedure was done (apparently with success), the article states:
“(After) the clinic’s medical director, finished his work, a biopsy was done on Rivers without her prior consent (by her private specialist), according to the source. An ear, nose and throat specialist not certified by the clinic as required by law performed a biopsy on her vocal cords. The doctor is described by the source as Rivers’ personal ear-nose-throat physician.”
It would appear that during the unapproved procedure by the “Selfie Doctor,” the patient’s vocal cords began to swell and closed off the airway. The lack of oxygen ultimately led to cardiac arrest.
I need to make it clear that the clinic has denied anyone doing the procedure but I also need to bring to light that the medical director has been relieved of all his duties and her personal physician has not been charged (as yet) with any wrongdoing. Officially the clinic said that no selfies were taken and no biopsy was done on the patient. They have also raised the shield of patient privacy laws.
It would appear that officially there are denials all around and privately, that they were guilty of poor ethical decisions if not really bad medicine.
Wannabe’s and arrogance
I must admit I am much more inclined to believe those who were in the room assisting in the procedure than the spin placed by the clinic.
To the less “serious charge,” I am pretty sure that when an 81 year old patient is under anesthesia, the medical texts probably don’t recommend joking around taking pictures. I believe there are certain privacy laws in place, but that’s just me. There is a very dangerous slope here that we had better not roll down.
Oh, I get it all right. Successful Manhattan physician joking and schmoozing with the rich and famous – and getting more rich and famous in return. If I sound overly critical, I am. I am old fashioned. I still believe in professionals doing professional things.
To the possibility that the unauthorized biopsy was performed by Dr. Bigshot, circumventing established laws about clinic privileges and that the patient never signed a consent, I am extremely bothered to say the least.
I have never been to medical school and even high school biology left me squeamish, however I get nervous when hearing of medical device sales people, physician’s relatives or any unauthorized people in a room where a procedure is being done.
The fact that Bigshot was a physician is irrelevant to me. He had no privileges there and he had no business performing an invasive procedure outside of the apparent comfort zone of the clinic. The director of the clinic was the ultimate gatekeeper. He left the gate wide-open.
We will wait until all of the final reports are in, but for now there are some hints of lousy ethics at play, and I don’t like it one bit.
