It’s been over a month since Joan Rivers tragically passed away at the age of 81, but only now is her official cause of death able to be confirmed.
On Thursday, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner issued the following statement:
“OCME has completed its investigation. The cause of Ms. Rivers’ death is anoxic encephalopathy due to hypoxic arrest during laryngoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with propofol sedation for evaluation of voice changes and gastroesophageal reflux disease. The manner of death is therapeutic complication.
“The classification of a death as a therapeutic complication means that the death resulted from a predictable complication of medical therapy.”
