Joan Rivers stops breathing during throat surgery

Comedienne Joan Rivers has reportedly been placed in a medically-induced coma after suffering cardiac and respiratory failure during a medical procedure.
Rivers was getting her vocal cords checked at a clinic in New York when she started fighting for breath. She was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital and placed in a coma as members of her family were alerted to her condition, reported New York Daily News online.
Doctors will take the 81-year-old artiste out of the coma this weekend and assess any damage.
"She's not conscious, but she's stable," Rivers' aide Graham Reed said.
Initial reports suggested Rivers was in a critical condition.

A spokesman for the hospital has released a brief statement, which read, "Her family wants to thank everybody for their outpouring of love and support. We will provide an update on her condition as it becomes available."
The comedienne's daughter Melissa has reportedly flown to New York from her home in California to be at her mother's bedside.