Joan Rivers Death A ‘Wake Up Call’ For Doctors; Late Comedienne’s Botched Operation Revisited
Joan Rivers' death was tagged as a "wake up call" by doctors.
According to a report form PR News Wire, the late comedienne's botched operation was revisited during this year's renowned Outpatient Surgery O.R. Excellence conference.
"The death of Joan Rivers has drawn attention to the safety of outpatient surgery facilities," said Dr. Kenneth Rothfield.
"Hopefully, the positive from this scrutiny will be a re-evaluation of policies and practices, and safety culture at surgical centers that result in improvements to patient safety."
Dr. Kenneth Rothfield pointed out how higher medical standards could have avoided Joan Rivers' death, which resulted from a faulty operation at New York outpatient facility Yorkville Endoscopy last August 2014. The then 81-year-old comedienne died a week after the botched procedure on Sept. 4, 2014.
The medical expert said surgical centers such as Yorkville Endoscopy must have standards that are at par with hospitals. One way to ensure this is to have small to medium sized outpatient facilities accredited by the same organizations that big hospitals follow.
"Although hospitals typically seek accreditation from The Joint Commission, ambulatory centers can receive accreditation from a variety of organizations," Dr. Kenneth Rothfield explained.
As a result of Joan Rivers' untimely death, Yorkville Endoscopy has been under investigation for alleged medical malpractice.
Entertainment Tonight previously reported about how the comedy icon's only daughter, Melissa Rivers, slammed the Upper East Side clinic with a million-dollar medical malpractice lawsuit.
"[Melissa Rivers] is outraged by the misconduct and mismanagement now shown to have occurred before, during and after the procedure," her legal reps said.
Aside from Dr. Kenneth Rothfield, Radar Online reported about other experts who looked into Joan Rivers' death.
World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht said that he was shocked by the utter "negligence" of personnel from Yorkville Endoscopy.
"You have gross negligence here. ...This is a death that should not have occurred," he said during the investigation.
Upon studying the case, DEA and FBI consultant and private investigator Danno Hanks also concluded that Yorkville Endoscopy tried to cover up their negligence.
"I'm looking at pages filled with stone-walling by the doctors, the center and its staff, missing data logs, suspicious IT personnel and more," he said.
"It's breathtaking. It looks like a cover-up!"
