Melissa Rivers could now find some peace after settling the malpractice lawsuit she filed in January 2015 against New York City endoscopy clinic which she accused of causing Joan Rivers tragic death.
According to E! News, Melissa reached an agreement on Thursday, May 12. "In accepting this settlement, I am able to put the legal aspects of my mother's death behind me and ensure that those culpable for her death have accepted responsibility for their actions quickly and without equivocation," Melissa said in er statement on Thursday.
Rivers added, "Moving forward, my focus will be to ensure that no one ever has to go through what my mother, Cooper and I went through and I will work towards ensuring higher safety standards in out-patient surgical clinics. I want to express my personal gratitude to my legal team for their wise counsel and prompt resolution of this case."
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Rivers' legal counsel later released the following statement: "While we know that no amount of money will compensate Melissa Rivers and her son Cooper for their loss, we are pleased that the case has been resolved. We worked tirelessly to ensure that appropriate compensation was paid on behalf of those responsible for Joan Rivers' death.
"In keeping with Melissa's wishes, we will continue to work with the Rivers' family to ensure that appropriate safeguards and higher safety standards are put into effect in all ambulatory surgery centers to protect the health, safety and well-being of all patients and to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.We have agreed to keep the terms of the settlement confidential to make certain that the focus of this horrific incident remains on improved patient care and the legacy of Joan Rivers."
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. We will keep you posted.
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Joan Riversdied in September 2014 after undergoing a throat procedure at the clinic. The medical examiner later determined that she had stopped breathing during the procedure and suffered fatal brain damage resulting from a lack of oxygen. She was 81.