Damage Unknown as Joan Rivers Brought Out of Coma

As doctors bring Joan Rivers out of a medically induced coma, there's some concern the comedian could end up "either a vegetable or in a wheelchair," the New York Daily News reports. That news has her family considering a lawsuit. Whether or not Rivers, 81, has suffered brain damage won't be evident until she wakes up, which could happen today; she's been on life support since Sunday. Rivers' condition—following cardiac and respiratory arrest during an outpatient, routine throat surgery last week—has left her daughter, Melissa, "totally hysterical," a source tells the Daily News.

"Shock and upset is turning to anger, and they are looking for someone to blame," says the source. The legal threats are directed at Yorkville Endoscopy on the Upper East Side, which Rivers' family claims botched the surgery on her vocal cords Thursday, the Washington Times adds. "The night before she was performing, and now she is on life support. An 81-year-old should not have that procedure as an outpatient. Very ill-advised," says one family member. (More Joan Rivers stories.)