Joan Rivers 'stopped breathing' in surgery

[LinasK]

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...iopsy-cut-air-supply-source-article-1.1934178

"Joan Rivers had surprise throat biopsy that cut off her air supply, source claims"

"The routine surgical procedure Joan Rivers was supposed to undergo turned deadly when a doctor who arrived at the clinic with the legendary comic’s entourage performed an unplanned biopsy on her vocal cords, a medical source who was briefed on the case told The News."

"Such a procedure is not supposed to be performed outside of a hospital, according to medical experts."

Okay, I'm not believing this for more than one reason. First of all, biopsies during endoscopy ARE performed successfully outside of hospitals. My daughter just had an endoscopy performed on Thurs- the day Joan died- in an outpatient surgical clinic. She was given general anesthesia. The endoscopy went below the level of her vocal cords to check for GERD and biopsies were taken. We knew in advance that biopsies would be taken- no biggie. I don't think the people writing these articles have the medical knowledge to know what they are talking about. They also previously claimed Joan had surgery. An endoscopy, although it might be performed under general anesthesia, is NOT surgery.

 

[LinasK]

I also work in an Endoscopy unit, in a hospital, and I agree with your post
I have concerns if Joan had given prior written consent for this specialist to not only be in the room but to perform any medical procedure during the endoscopy and did the law allow him to have 'privilege' at this clinic.??

The same applies to where I work in regards to the Surgeons, we have 6 surgeons who rotate into our department 2 days per week, they usually only perform colonoscopies ..there are 1 or 2 that perform EGD's but not too often... and rarely do they perform a Double.

The adult GE that DH & I go to see always does endoscopies with the colonoscopy. He too has an outpatient clinic. He uses Propofol.

 

[LinasK]

]I would think she would have been sedated and a local numbing spray inside her throat. Would have to prevent gagging with possible vomiting and aspiration[/B]. Am sure she would not have had anything to eat or drink after midnight the night before, but there are still fluids in the stomach.

That's the procedure for doing an endoscopy with local anesthesia, not for general.

 

[jjenny]

That's the procedure for doing an endoscopy with local anesthesia, not for general.

Per what the clinic said in a statement, Joan did not have either biopsy or general anesthesia.

 

[LinasK]

Per what the clinic said in a statement, Joan did not have either biopsy or general anesthesia.

Okay, then so to clarify: Joan had an endoscopy of her vocal cords, performed under local anesthesia, NOT throat surgery, nor general anesthesia, and no biopsies taken. Thank you for clarifying the misinformation on this thread! Based on the above, I don't think her daughter has a claim for medical malpractice!

 

[SophieRose]

I'm surprised she ate the night before.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/n...ers.html?smid=tw-nytimeshealth&seid=auto&_r=0

The night before she went into cardiac arrest, Ms. Rivers performed at a cabaret in Manhattan’s theater district. Then she joined an old friend and collaborator, Jay Redack, for a few bites of salmon and her usual glass of white wine with ice at an Upper East Side bistro.

“We had a lovely, festive dinner,” Mr. Redack said.

 

[LinasK]

I'm surprised she ate the night before.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/n...ers.html?smid=tw-nytimeshealth&seid=auto&_r=0

The night before she went into cardiac arrest, Ms. Rivers performed at a cabaret in Manhattan’s theater district. Then she joined an old friend and collaborator, Jay Redack, for a few bites of salmon and her usual glass of white wine with ice at an Upper East Side bistro.

“We had a lovely, festive dinner,” Mr. Redack said.

The length of time being N.P.O.(nothing by mouth, not even water) may vary- sometimes it's 12 hours beforehand, sometimes less. We don't know what time Joan stopped eating dinner, and we don't know what time Joan had the endoscopy performed at. In my daughter's case, she didn't need to stop solid foods until midnight. She was allowed "clear liquids" from midnight to 9a.m.- 3 hours prior, then NPO only 3 hours prior. What I didn't know is that they didn't consider jello a clear liquid because of the protein, so because my daughter consumed some jello at 8:30 a.m., they pushed her procedure back 2 hours, but it was still only 5 hours prior total that she was completely NPO.

 

[nrdsb4]

Okay, I'm not believing this for more than one reason. First of all, biopsies during endoscopy ARE performed successfully outside of hospitals. My daughter just had an endoscopy performed on Thurs- the day Joan died- in an outpatient surgical clinic. She was given general anesthesia. The endoscopy went below the level of her vocal cords to check for GERD and biopsies were taken. We knew in advance that biopsies would be taken- no biggie. I don't think the people writing these articles have the medical knowledge to know what they are talking about. They also previously claimed Joan had surgery. An endoscopy, although it might be performed under general anesthesia, is NOT surgery.

The risks of having biopsies of the esophagus and stomach would be different than the risks of taking a biopsy of the vocal cords. It would not necessarily be true to say that taking a biopsy from a vocal cord would be "no biggie."

I work at an endoscopy center as a RN and we never do vocal cord biopsies.

 

[Isabelle]

Clinic denies it. So it would appear to have been a bogus report.

"The clinic Joan Rivers visited prior to her ultimately fatal hospitalization has denied reports that they performed an unplanned throat biopsy during a routine endoscopy on the beloved comedienne."

Read more: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity...erforming-throat-biopsy-2014109#ixzz3CxtMPyJv
Follow us: @usweekly on Twitter | usweekly on Facebook

Compare to statement under the Investigation section:

https://celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/c...rsy--the-latest-on-joan-rivers-205521991.html

ETA: notice spokesman for clinic supposedly states the biopsy of this type has never been performed "before" at that clinic. No telling what is true.

 

[SStarr33]

Clinic denies it. So it would appear to have been a bogus report.

"The clinic Joan Rivers visited prior to her ultimately fatal hospitalization has denied reports that they performed an unplanned throat biopsy during a routine endoscopy on the beloved comedienne."

Read more: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity...erforming-throat-biopsy-2014109#ixzz3CxtMPyJv
Follow us: @usweekly on Twitter | usweekly on Facebook

Of course they are denying it.

 

[nrdsb4]

The adult GE that DH & I go to see always does endoscopies with the colonoscopy. He too has an outpatient clinic. He uses Propofol.

I'm not sure what you are trying to say with this post.

At my clinic, colon rectal surgeons typically only do colonoscopies, and call in GI docs to do the upper endoscopies if warranted. Our GI docs perform both procedures when the double is called for. None of our docs "always" do endoscopies with colonoscopies, they only do the upper procedure when it is called for, and they only do the colonoscopy when it is called for. There has to be a good reason to do either or both procedures, you can't just say "well, I always do both procedures just because." Not sure that is what you are saying, as your post wasn't entirely clear to me.

 

[Isabelle]

I'm surprised she ate the night before.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/n...ers.html?smid=tw-nytimeshealth&seid=auto&_r=0

The night before she went into cardiac arrest, Ms. Rivers performed at a cabaret in Manhattan’s theater district. Then she joined an old friend and collaborator, Jay Redack, for a few bites of salmon and her usual glass of white wine with ice at an Upper East Side bistro.

“We had a lovely, festive dinner,” Mr. Redack said.

No reason she couldn't eat the night before. For general anesthesia food and liquids are stopped 8 to 10 hours before surgery.

 

[nrdsb4]

Okay, I'm not believing this for more than one reason. First of all, biopsies during endoscopy ARE performed successfully outside of hospitals. My daughter just had an endoscopy performed on Thurs- the day Joan died- in an outpatient surgical clinic. She was given general anesthesia. The endoscopy went below the level of her vocal cords to check for GERD and biopsies were taken. We knew in advance that biopsies would be taken- no biggie. I don't think the people writing these articles have the medical knowledge to know what they are talking about. They also previously claimed Joan had surgery. An endoscopy, although it might be performed under general anesthesia, is NOT surgery.

From the statement allegedly provided by the clinic in question (post 189):

A representative for the Rivers family declined to comment on the story. A spokeswoman for Yorkville Endoscopy wouldn't comment on the specific situation due to patient confidentiality laws, but they did provide an extensive statement to The Insider with Yahoo that clarified that a vocal chord biopsy is not a procedure that has ever been performed before at their clinic.

BBM

 

[LinasK]

I'm not sure what you are trying to say with this post.

At my clinic, colon rectal surgeons typically only do colonoscopies, and call in GI docs to do the upper endoscopies if warranted. Our GI docs perform both procedures when the double is called for. None of our docs "always" do endoscopies with colonoscopies, they only do the upper procedure when it is called for, and they only do the colonoscopy when it is called for. There has to be a good reason to do either or both procedures, you can't just say "well, I always do both procedures just because." Not sure that is what you are saying, as your post wasn't entirely clear to me.

He is a GE/GI doc and he routinely does endoscopies with colonoscopies. He is also a surgeon.

 

[Isabelle]

Okay, I'm not believing this for more than one reason. First of all, biopsies during endoscopy ARE performed successfully outside of hospitals. My daughter just had an endoscopy performed on Thurs- the day Joan died- in an outpatient surgical clinic. She was given general anesthesia. The endoscopy went below the level of her vocal cords to check for GERD and biopsies were taken. We knew in advance that biopsies would be taken- no biggie. I don't think the people writing these articles have the medical knowledge to know what they are talking about. They also previously claimed Joan had surgery. An endoscopy, although it might be performed under general anesthesia, is NOT surgery.

The endoscopy your daughter had was via the esophagus. Joan Rivers was via her trachea.

 

[nrdsb4]

He is a GE/GI doc and he routinely does endoscopies with colonoscopies. He is also a surgeon.

Okay, but what is the relevance of this?

 

[Isabelle]

From the statement allegedly provided by the clinic in question (post 189):



BBM

Would like the clinic to clarify what they mean by "before". Could imply one was done that day and it was the first ever for that clinic.

 

[LinasK]

I also work in an Endoscopy unit, in a hospital, and I agree with your post
I have concerns if Joan had given prior written consent for this specialist to not only be in the room but to perform any medical procedure during the endoscopy and did the law allow him to have 'privilege' at this clinic.??

The same applies to where I work in regards to the Surgeons, we have 6 surgeons who rotate into our department 2 days per week, they usually only perform colonoscopies ..there are 1 or 2 that perform EGD's but not too often... and rarely do they perform a Double.

I'm not sure what you are trying to say with this post.

At my clinic, colon rectal surgeons typically only do colonoscopies, and call in GI docs to do the upper endoscopies if warranted. Our GI docs perform both procedures when the double is called for. None of our docs "always" do endoscopies with colonoscopies, they only do the upper procedure when it is called for, and they only do the colonoscopy when it is called for. There has to be a good reason to do either or both procedures, you can't just say "well, I always do both procedures just because." Not sure that is what you are saying, as your post wasn't entirely clear to me.

BBM. This is why I responded, because my GE routinely does both together. I don't think it's fair for either of you to make a blanket statement like that.

 

[jjenny]

Compare to statement under the Investigation section:

https://celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/c...rsy--the-latest-on-joan-rivers-205521991.html

ETA: notice spokesman for clinic supposedly states the biopsy of this type has never been performed "before" at that clinic. No telling what is true.

This doesn't even appear in quotation marks. I don't believe the actual statement from the clinic has a "before" in it.

"A biopsy of the vocal cords has never been performed at Yorkville Endoscopy," the clinic's statement said.

http://www.cbs19.tv/story/26502730/...l-joan-rivers-doctors-were-qualified-equipped

 

[jjenny]

Would like the clinic to clarify what they mean by "before". Could imply one was done that day and it was the first ever for that clinic.

They didn't mean anything by "before" because "before" doesn't appear in their statement. Here it is on CNN in quotation marks. There is no "before" in the statement.

"A biopsy of the vocal cords has never been performed at Yorkville Endoscopy," the clinic's statement said."
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/10/showb...paign=Feed:+rss/cnn_latest+(RSS:+Most+Recent)