Issuing a Cause of Death Certificate is one of the onerous duties of a General Practitioner, which has medico-legal implications. Following are some points to remember while issuing a death certificate. Issue of cause of death certificate is the responsibility of the treating physician. It should be issued only after declaring the death of the person and ensuring the natural cause of death based on clinical findings.
A Doctor may certify death after verifying all facts regarding date and time of death, and cause of death of the deceased. In cases where cause of death is uncertain or identity of the deceased is unknown, the doctor should immediately inform police for further investigation and postmortem. The death must be informed to the local Municipal Authorities within 72 hours. In situations where cause of death is uncertain or identity of the deceased is unknown, a medicolegal…
