Source Claims Doctor Performing Joan Rivers' Biopsy Snapped Selfie With Star

A new report emerging after the death of comedienne Joan Rivers indicates that the doctor performing a biopsy on the celebrity before she went into cardiac arrest reportedly snapped a selfie with her on his phone while she was under anesthesia.

A staff member at Manhattan's Yorkville Endoscopy clinic, where Rivers was receiving a biopsy for her vocal chords, told investigators that he doctor who was performing the procedure took a selfie with Rivers while she was under anesthesia.

The doctor was reportedly not certified by the clinic to perform the procedure, but was rather Rivers' personal ears, nose and throat doctor. Another doctor at the clinic, Lawrence Cohen, had performed Rivers' endoscopy, but had reportedly allowed the unnamed doctor to perform the biopsy after.

During the biopsy, Rivers reportedly went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing. She was rushed to Mount Sinai hospital where she was put on life support until September 4, when her daughter removed her from life support.

Dr. Arthur Caplan, a medical ethicist at New York University's Langone Medical Center, told CNN that although the doctor who performed Rivers' biopsy was licensed, he should have been certified at the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic in order to perform a biopsy on Rivers.

"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," Caplan said.

 According to Fox News, the Yorkville clinic continues to deny that the biopsy was done at its site, and laws regarding patient confidentiality prohibit more information from being released.

"Yorkville has said and still says that a biopsy of the vocal cords was not done at its site," a representative for the clinic said. "Otherwise due to HIPAA laws it cannot comments on its patients or their procedures."