According to the Los Angeles Times, Rivers' death was the result of "predictable complication of medical therapy." Rivers, who was sedated with propofol during an Aug. 28 laryngoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at an Upper East Side clinic, died from "anoxic encephalopathy due to hypoxic arrest," meaning that her brain was deprived of oxygen.
She was rushed to Mt. Sinai Hospital in cardiac and respiratory arrest. The medical director of the clinic where Rivers was being treated later stepped down.
Rivers made her Broadway stage debut in Fun City and later was a replacement player in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. A stand-up comic making guest-host appearances on "The Tonight Show," Rivers eventually hosted her own talk show, "The Joan Rivers Show." She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress for her work in Sally Marr...and Her Escorts — which she also co-wrote. Read her obituary here.
Read: Here's to Joan: Dozens of Broadway Stars Remember Joan Rivers
