Page 127 - CFDI Guide

CFDI SPECIAL MODULES IN DEATH / SBI CRIMINAL DEFENSE INVESTIIGATIONS

Understanding Death Certificates

I. About the Death Certificate
The Death Certificate is a report of the death, for individual recording and general statistical

information. An MD or DO, or Coroner / Medical Examiner (or deputy) can legally sign a death
certificate. This may be the decedent’s primary care physician or medical specialist – not a nurse, EMT

or other non-MD/DO medical field position. This is also true of pronouncing death (this is too often not

followed).

There are three parts to the death certificate – the informational section of the decedent and event, as

well as family and some general history for statistics. The accuracy of this information is based on the

‘informant’ listed and may not be accurate. A person may state they are a son or daughter, or spouse –
and not legally be, although they may have lived as such.

Of importance are the certifying sections, Cause of Death Statement – Part I and Part II. The

information section has the decedent’s Date of Birth (DOB) and Date of Death (DOD). The DOD may be
estimated, such as if the body was found and the date is estimated – this is usually noted. In Part I is

also the Time of Death and Pronouncement of Death (POD) – these may be different, and the reasons
vary. The TOD should be the closest estimate to the determined TOD. The POD is when death was

pronounced – which may be immediate (such as in a hospital) or later – such as most cases the CFDI
will see in which the decedent was found, and a Coroner / ME responded to pronounce death.

Unfortunately, some put the TOD and POD as the same in these situations. Be cognizant of this and
refer to other materials in discovery to note the more accurate TOD vs. POD.

Part 1 – is a chronological chain of events from Immediate Cause back to the sequential list of events

leading to the death. A terminal event, such as “Cardiac Attack” or “Respiratory Arrest” by themselves
are not allowed – there must be a sequential list of events.

Part 2 – Other Significant Conditions which contributed to death; however, are not listed in Part 1

above. These are not part of the underlying cause of death.

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