RIP

Doctors who performed the procedure that led to Joan Rivers' death screwed up by not following the proper procedure before sedating her with Propofol ... according to a federal report.

The Dept. of Health and Human Services examined the Yorkville Endoscopy Center, where Joan stopped breathing. The Dept. found there's no record that the staff weighed Joan before administering the Propofol ... the point being, the amount of the sedative should be based on size.

The computer at the clinic also shows she was given a huge dosage of Propofol. A staff member told the Dept. she made a mistake inputting the dosage and put in more than twice the actual amount given to Joan.

And according to the report, Joan's personal doctor, Gwen Korovin, came into the operating room without authorization. The Dept. says she announced to the room, "I will go first" ... meaning she would do the first procedure on Joan.

And, according to the report, Joan only consented to an upper endoscopy procedure, but Dr. Korovin did more ... a laryngoscopy.

As for the now-famous selfie pic that Dr. Korovin took in the room ... according to the Dept. the doctor asked the staff to take the picture of her doing the procedure, saying Joan might have wanted it.

And finally ... the Dept. says the doctors didn't notice Joan was literally dying on the table. As her oxygen levels plummeted, they were oblivious.

Melissa Rivers tells TMZ she is "outraged by the misconduct and mismanagement."

Former Minnesota Vikings star Orlando Thomas -- one of the best defensive backs in the league back in the '90s -- has died after battling ALS.

The 42-year-old -- who led the NFL in interceptions in 1995 -- revealed he was battling the disease in 2007 ... 3 years after he first began exhibiting symptoms.

Thomas was a stud in the NFL -- he was a 2nd round pick in the '95 Draft and was a key player on the 1998 Vikings team that went 15-1 and went all the way to the NFC championship. He retired in 2001.

Orlando's agent Mark Bartelstein issued a statement saying ... "Nobody's ever fought a battle like Orlando fought, with so much dignity -- I never saw anything like it. It's just incredible."

Robin Williams was struggling with his Parkinson's, anxiety, depression and paranoia just before he committed suicide ... this according the Coroner's report.

The paranoia has not been previously reported. According to the report -- obtained by TMZ -- the night before Robin died, he placed several wristwatches in a sock and gave them to someone because he was worried about their safe keeping.

Williams had 4 drugs in his system -- 2 anti-depressants, 2 caffeine compounds, (listed as a drug). The Coroner's report confirms what we were told by various people ... Williams was sober at the time of death.

When authorities found Robin's body ... they saw a closed bottle of Seroquel, a drug that treats schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and depression. It was prescribed a week before he died.

The 63-year-old comedian committed suicide Aug. 11 by hanging himself with a belt in his Marin County home. He had also attempted to cut his wrists with a pocket knife. The report says authorities found a damp, white washcloth on the bathroom sink counter with a "reddish substance" -- possibly blood.

According to the Coroner's report ... authorities asked Williams' wife if Robin was into autoerotica. She said he was not, but he worked on a movie several years ago in which the character who played Williams' son died of autoerotica, and the scene was "very difficult and emotional for Mr. Williams."

The report says the last outgoing call from Robin's phone was at 7:08 PM the night before he died. He had called his wife, and it lasted 38 seconds. She told authorities he called because he was picking up magazines for her at a bookstore.

The night before he died, Robin's wife said he seemed ok ... he had been rummaging through their closet and grabbed his iPad, which she thought was a good sign because he hadn't even watched TV or read anything in approximately 6 months ... which presumably is a manifestation of depression.

As for what Robin was looking at on his iPad ... the web browser had several tabs open to websites discussing medications, including Lyrica -- a seizure Rx -- and propranolol -- which treats blood pressure and tremors.

She says the last time she saw him -- at around 10:30 PM Sunday, she described his demeanor as "excited."

As for why Robin and his wife were in separate bedrooms, she told authorities he had been having trouble sleeping and would move around a lot in bed and talk loudly in his sleep.

As we reported ... Williams was getting treatment for severe depression shortly before his death. After he died, Robin's widow Susan Schneider revealed he was in the early stages of Parkinson's.

According to the report ... Williams had experienced Parkinson's symptoms since 2011 -- he had a tremor in his left arm and movement in his left hand had slowed. He had recently started taking levodopa to treat it.

Williams' wife wanted to see the body before it was removed from the house. They pulled back the sheets and she prayed over the body ... and Sheriff's deputies joined her.

Casey Kasem's body is decomposing in a Scandinavian mortuary ... and his kids have gone to court before there's no body left to bury.

Kerri Kasem filed legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- asking a judge to force Jean Kasem to bring Casey's remains back to the U.S.

Casey died in June, and his body has been rotting away in Norway since August.

Jean has not even had the body embalmed, according to legal docs.

The children are also worried an autopsy will be fruitless if the decomposition continues.They believe Jean's motive is to make an autopsy impossible so she will not be prosecuted for elder abuse ... something the LAPD is investigating.

In other words ... if time goes on and the body remains in Norway ... Jean could dodge a bullet.

Rapper Big Paybacc was shot and killed Thursday inside a McDonald's in Palmdale, CA and police say this was no random shooting ... it was personal.

The 38-year-old rapper (real name Habeeb Ameer Zekajj) was reportedly eating lunch at 12:30 PM when someone walked in and shot him once. Police say there were about 15 other customers inside at the time.

LA County Sheriff’s Department Lt. John Corina told reporters, "There was no altercation ... This guy just walked in through one door, shot him and left out another door. So it looked like something personal. He had something against this individual. It wasn’t like he shot up the McDonald’s. He just shot him and left."

His girlfriend told reporters he left behind three children.

Tom Sneddon -- the prosecutor who tried twice to nail Michael Jackson on child molestation charges -- has died.

Sneddon -- who served as D.A. of Santa Barbara County for more than a quarter century -- famously lost the case against Jackson in 2005, in which Jackson was accused of plying his alleged victim with wine, sexually assaulting him at Neverland and holding his family hostage.

But Sneddon went after Jackson more than a decade before, trying to prosecute the singer for allegedly molesting a boy at Neverland. Jackson made the boy's civil case go away at a cost of $20 million and the boy and his family refused to cooperate with Sneddon, so the case went away.

Sneddon, who had 9 kids, fiercely believed Jackson was a child molester. For Jackson's part, in one of his tracks you hear him say, "Tom Sneddon is a cold man."

He died of cancer.

Static X singer Wayne Static has died at the age of 48.

The band released a statement late Saturday night about his death ... but no details surrounding how he passed away were given.

The band hit it big in '99 with their song "Push It" and their album went platinum. They went on to make 5 more ... but after breaking up in 2013, the front man pursued a solo career.

Wayne was set to co-headline tours with Powerman 5000 and Drowning Pool in the coming months.

A Virgin Galactic spaceship exploded during a test flight Friday over California's Mojave Desert ... leaving one crew member dead and another severely injured.

Virgin Galactic says their SpaceShipTwo experienced "an in-flight anomaly" after it launched at 9:15 AM.

The spacecraft is launched after it is released from another aircraft in flight. According to reports the spaceship blew up shortly after the release and it's engines ignited.

The plane that released the spacecraft landed safely.

The spaceship is designed to go 62 miles above Earth. It's unclear how high the doomed craft was when it blew up.

A bunch of celebs have reportedly signed up for the initial launch already -- including Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Justin Bieber.

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson tweeted about the incident, saying he planned to fly to Mojave immediately to be with the team.

Story developing ...

Joan Rivers' daughter Melissa has retained a law firm that will file a major lawsuit over her mom's death ... TMZ has confirmed.

We're told the firm -- Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman, Mackauf, Bloom & Rubinowitz -- will file a medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit against the clinic where Joan stopped breathing and the doctors who were involved.

Our sources say Melissa retained the firm Tuesday, but the suit won't be filed for around a month.

We're told letters are going out today to the various people involved in the fatal medical procedure, telling them NOT to destroy records involving Joan's treatment. The lawyers also want phone logs and other documents.

As we reported ... one of the driving forces for Melissa is to figure out how her mom died, but in the end, it's a lawsuit over money.

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras -- a 22-year-old rising star -- died Sunday in a car crash in the Dominican Republic.

According to a rep for the team, Taveras was driving the car -- with his girlfriend on board -- when he lost control and the car went off the road. Oscar's girlfriend also died in the wreck.

Officials are investigating the cause of the wreck -- though local police say rainy conditions may have been a factor.

Oscar's teammate Kolten Wong went to Twitter moments ago and wrote, "Wow! My heart truly hurts to hear the passing of Oscar! I've played with him every year and we truly lost a great person! #RIPOscarTaveras"

Oscar was a rising star in the MLB -- and most recently hit a home run during Game 2 of the NLCS against the SF Giants.

Marcia Strassman -- perhaps best known for playing the mom from the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" movies -- died Saturday after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 66.

She got her first big recurring role on "M*A*S*H" playing Nurse Cutler ... but struck it big playing the part of Julie Kotter, Gabe Kaplan's wife on "Welcome Back, Kotter."

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" director Bob Weide, a long-time friend of Strassman's, was one of the first to break the news of her passing. He wrote on Twitter, "So sad that a sweet friend, kind person & wonderful actress Marcia Strassman lost her brave battle with cancer today."

Jack Bruce -- who sang some of Cream's biggest hit songs -- has died at the age of 71.

The singer/bass player's family revealed the news on his website Saturday morning ... and his rep tells us he died from liver disease. We're told he had been sick since January.

Bruce sang lead vocals on classic Cream songs like "Sunshine of Your Love" and "White Room."

The group also included Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker ... and they were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Bruce was considered one of the best bass players of all time.

Editorial ... He was awesome. RIP

Scary Kids Scaring Kids singer Tyson Stevens died from a drug overdose, possibly heroin ... that's what his mom and girlfriend told cops.

Stevens died Monday and the official cause of death is unknown. But law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... there's smoke. The girlfriend and mom say Stevens had struggled with heroin addiction for a long time, although he was recently clean.

Our sources say Stevens' body had "old track marks" that had scabbed on his inner right ankle. We're told there was no heroin in the house where he died, but cops did find weed and pipes.

Cops in Washington State say they NEVER abused "August: Osage County" star Misty Upham during multiple run-ins in the past year ... despite what her family is claiming.

Auburn PD says there hasn't been one mistreatment complaint from Misty, her family, the local hospital, or the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.

Misty's family has insinuated police gave her a black eye and swollen jaw during one run-in ... but cops tell us the official report says Upham told officers she sustained the black eye after jumping out of a window.

As for the search for Misty -- whose body was found in a ravine last week -- police say, "Officers immediately followed up on all reports of her possible whereabouts." They say they made several attempts to contact her mobile phone, but her service had been disconnected before she went missing.

As we previously reported ... Misty went off a steep cliff near her home and apparently died from the fall.

Melissa Rivers will sue the medical center where Joan died and the doctors as well because it's the only way she can find out what really happened to her mom.

Sources connected to the Rivers family tell TMZ ... after the New York Dept. of Health and Human Services came out with its findings that Yorkville Endoscopy LLC was "deficient" in surgical services and medical staff ... Melissa tried to find out the root of the problems and if they caused her mom's death, but she was shut down.

We're told Melissa got advice from her lawyers ... the only way to know precisely what happened is to file a lawsuit, which entitles her to force doctors and facility staff to sit for sworn depositions and answer questions about what happened the day Joan stopped breathing.

Melissa, we're told, is frustrated because it's apparent the facility and the Dept. of Health know exactly what happened, so her only recourse is court.

Elizabeth Pena -- who became famous playing Ritchie Valens' brother's baby mama in "La Bamba" -- died from complications from alcohol abuse.

According to the death certificate -- obtained by TMZ -- Pena suffered from cirrhosis of the liver "due to alcohol." She had the disease for months, but it became acute shortly before her death.

The death certificate says the 55-year-old had acute gastrointestinal bleeding hours before her death, which caused her heart to stop.

Pena died October 14th at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A.