Medical certificate of death: Signature; contents.
1. The medical certificate of death must be signed by the physician, if any, last in attendance on the deceased, or pursuant to regulations adopted by the Board, it may be signed by the attending physician’s associate physician, the chief medical officer of the hospital or institution in which the death occurred, or the pathologist who performed an autopsy upon the deceased. The person who signs the medical certificate of death shall specify:
(a) The social security number of the deceased.
(b) The hour and day on which the death occurred.
(c) The cause of death, so as to show the cause of disease or sequence of causes resulting in death, giving first the primary cause of death or the name of the disease causing death, and the contributory or secondary cause, if any, and the duration of each.
2. In deaths in hospitals or institutions, or of nonresidents, the physician shall furnish the information required under this section, and may state where, in his opinion, the disease was contracted.
Last modified: February 26, 2006