The circumstances surrounding Joan Rivers‘ death were not only tragic, they were completely unprofessional and potentially avoidable. We all know by now that employees at Yorkville Endoscopy performed an unscheduled biopsy without permission while Rivers was unconscious, but there still have been no concrete answers on what the hell happened and how what should have been a somewhat routine procedure resulted in Joan’s death. Because of this, her daughter Melissa Rivers is suing.
As Melissa explained during an interview on The Wendy Williams Show, “I want to find out what happened. I need to know, I need answers. I’m angry.”
I mean, look – I absolutely think there needs to be an investigation done into the circumstances surrounding Joan’s death and into the clinic in general, since clearly their staff is unprofessional and could easily place other clients in similar dangers. At the same time, I don’t know that suing for any kind of financial settlement is the way to get “answers” – it’s the way to get money.
Of course, the best thing that could come out of this is if Melissa took the money she will be awarded (because come on, they know they messed up) and put it into some kind of foundation for charities that Joan felt passionate about. Otherwise, it seems like it’s just more of a way to make money than it is about finding justice. I’m not making any accusations here because I don’t have opinions either way on Melissa Rivers as a human being, but I think the whole thing should be handled carefully and thoughtfully, for sure.