Dr. Gwen Korovin has been identified as Joan Rivers’ personal doctor, who allegedly performed an unplanned procedure on Rivers’ that led to her death.
Korovin, 56, who counts Hugh Jackman, Julie Andrews, and Lady Gaga among her clients, is an ear, nose, and throat specialist.
Sources told TMZ that Korovin was working on Rivers when Rivers stopped breathing.
“We’re told Dr. Korovin was not authorized to practice medicine at Yorkville Endoscopy center,” the website reported.
Rivers went into respiratory and cardiac arrest and never regained consciousness. Korovin was performing a biopsy without Rivers’ consent after Rivers underwent an endoscopy at the clinic.
The clinic, Yorkville Endoscopy, has denied that the second procedure happened.
A source recently told CNN, meanwhile, that Korovin took a selfie while performing the biopsy on Rivers’ vocal cords.
The source, an unnamed staff member at the clinic, said that Corovin took the picture during the biopsy, while confirming that the biopsy happened without Rivers’ consent.
“Even though you are a licensed physician, you still should have, if you will, the checks and balances to get your approval to practice in that particular place,” said Dr. Arthur Caplan, a medical ethicist at New York University’s Langone Medical Center, about what happened.
Radar Online reports that Korovin is in hiding.
“Everyone close to Joan thinks Dr. Korovin skipped town,” an insider told the website, noting that Melissa Rivers, Joans’ daughter, is describing Korovin as a “spineless monster.”
“Melissa is taking this very seriously,” the insider said. “She has been shocked by the reports of her mother’s ear, nose and throat doctor took a selfie picture with Joan when she was on the table. It only proves to Melissa that she needs to make sure this doesn’t happen to another person. Filing the medical board complaint against Dr. Lawrence Cohen and Dr. Korovin will give Melissa the power to make sure she gets answers.”
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