Premium
Amended Cause and Manner of Death Certification: A Six‐Year Review of the New Mexico Experience *
Author(s) -
Croft Philip R.,
Lathrop Sarah L.,
Zumwalt Ross E.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00128.x
Subject(s) - medical examiner , cause of death , medicine , natural death , manner of death , certification , emergency medicine , medical emergency , disease , toxicology , law , poison control , injury prevention , political science , biology
Little is known about the amendment of death certificates (DCs) issued by medical examiners and coroners. This retrospective study examined why, how, and with what frequency cause and manner of death were amended on DCs issued by forensic pathologists over a 6‐year period at the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. Approximately 1% of DCs had either cause or manner of death amendments, with arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease and intoxicants the most commonly amended and resulting causes of death, respectively. There was a significant association between manner of death and number of DCs amended ( p <0.001). By percent, natural and suicide DCs were the most frequently amended. The way in which manner of death changed was significantly associated with the amount of time elapsed between DCs ( p =0.04). Toxicology was the most common reason for DC amendment.