Medical Examiner Reveals Joan Rivers' Cause of Death

Joan Rivers died due to her brain's oxygen supply getting cut off during surgery, the New York Medical Examiner revealed Thursday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The report also states that Rivers was under the sedative propofol, which was the same drug cited in Michael Jackson's death. She was undergoing a laryngoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to determine what was causing her recent vocal problems.

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"The death resulted from a predictable complication of medical therapy," the medical examiner's report states.

Rivers was rushed to the hospital after she stopped breathing during surgery on Aug. 28 and died a week later at age 81. Her daughter Melissa is considering suing Rivers' doctor,who may have performed an unscheduled biopsy during the procedure.

The medical examiner's complete (medical jargon-filled) statement, as reported by THR, is as follows:

"OCME [Office of the Chief Medical Examiner] 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."