ABSTRACT
Unfortunately, it seems that there has been little or no improvement in the problems of certification of death over the years and as a result the raw epidemiological data gathered by national statistical bureaus must be treated with some caution. All doctors should take the task of certifying the cause of death very seriously but, regrettably, it is a job usually delegated to the most junior and least experienced, member of the team. In Ireland, having pronounced a death and after ascertaining that the death is not the subject of a medico-legal investigation, the doctor is required to complete the Death Notification Form and to issue a “Medical
Certificate of the Cause of Death” (MCCoD). It should be noted that the Death Notification Form incorporates the MCCoD. The medical practitioner who completes this form must be registered and must have attended the deceased during her or his last illness. The doctor can only certify the death if she or he has personally attended the deceased during the last illness within the last month. In order to complete a MCCoD the doctor must be satisfied that she or he knows the cause of death and furthermore, the death must be due to natural causes. Lastly, it is recommended that the certifying doctor should have viewed the body after death but this is not strictly necessary as it is not detailed in the legislation. However, it would be good practice to do so. Two Acts detail the statutory responsibilities of doctors in certifying deaths; section 42 of the Civil Registration Act, 2004 and section 18.4 of the Coroner’s Act, 1962.
