Comedian Joan Rivers dies at age 81

CNN reported on Friday (Septempter 5) that Joan Rivers has passed away, a week after suffering cardiac arrest during a medical procedure.

A written statement from her daughter, Melissa Rivers, said, "She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. surrounded by family and close friends."

Rivers, best known for her scathing remarks and commentary on the E! Network show Fashion Police, had been on life support at Manhattan’s Mount Sinai hospital, where she was taken after she stopped breathing at the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic last Thursday.

She was undergoing an apparently minor elective procedure at the clinic when she suffered cardiac and respiratory arrest, according to the New York Fire Department. The outpatient clinic is now being investigated by the New York State Department of Health, spokesman James O’Hara said.

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