Almost a year after the death of iconic comedienne Joan Rivers, media attention has still been on the unfortunate incident. The "Fashion Police" host tragically passed away at the age of 81 in September 2014 after she underwent surgery.

At the time, rumors had already circulated that before her heart stopped beating, her doctor had allegedly taken a selfie with her body lying unconscious on the operation table. Back then, the story had only been a rumor, but court papers have revealed recently that the Joan Rivers selfie surgery scandal is indeed true, reported Headlines & Global News.

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The scandal revealed how a Dr. Lawrence Cohen from Yorkville Endoscopy snapped selfies with an unconscious Rivers on the outpatient surgery on August 28, probably leading to her death.

Cohen, who was later fired from his medical director position after the endoscopy that led to her death, first denied the rumors. But now the clinic's own records prove he was lying.

"Notably, despite Dr. Bankulla's clear statement in the medical records that Dr. Cohen took a photograph of Joan Rivers while she was unconscious during the procedure, Dr. Cohen's unverified response . . . denies this fact," according to the records.

Official court documents on the Joan Rivers selfie surgery scandal reveal anesthesiologist Dr. Renuka Bankulla having witnessed the incident. However, Dr. Gwen Korovin, who performed Rivers's transnasal laryngoscopy, claimed she was "unaware of any photos being taken."

These new revelations on the Joan Rivers selfie surgery scandal naturally resulted in the Rivers family getting upset, with one of Melissa Rivers's lawyers, Ben Rubinowitz, later stating, "The conduct is unfortunately outrageous. You have a situation where doctors are taking photos of a patient when she needed assistance."

Clinic Director Daniel Adler also reportedly acknowledged to the comedian's lawyers that some of the clinic's staff members have also admitted to having witnessed the incident, reported Newsmax.

Rivers's attorneys are now requesting for sworn answers from clinic staffers; however, their defense team is reportedly dissenting.

Meanwhile, the Rivers family has sued Cohen and other staff members for "medical malpractice," according to The Inquisitr.

Currently, Cohen is still the center of the investigation on the death of Joan Rivers.

Joan Rivers was admitted to the clinic on August 28 to have an endoscopy performed. The nonsurgical procedure initially intended to find out what had been causing Rivers's throat problems. However, according to CNN, a biopsy on her vocal cords had been performed by a doctor without her consent.

According to investigators, Rivers's vocal cords started swelling during the biopsy, eventually resulting in respiratory failure and ultimately leading to cardiac arrest and her eventual death. Rivers died on September 4 at Mount Sinai Hospital due to brain damage from loss of oxygen.

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