Certifying Cause of Death in Family Practice

The Certificate of Cause of Death (CCOD) is an important legal document. The statutory duty of completing the CCOD is imposed upon a licensed medical practitioner by the Registration of Births and Deaths Act. The family physician is often in the best position to certify the cause of death when the death occurs in the community. Medical practitioners are permitted to issue CCODs ONLY when the cause of death is known and natural and if the deceased is not in statutory care. Deaths that are reportable to the Coroner include deaths from unnatural causes, iatrogenic events, or if circumstances surrounding the death are unknown or suspicious. Proper certification of cause of death is essential to avoid problems with the authorities and added grief to the family of the deceased. However, with better understanding of the process of completing the CCOD, the family physician can more confidently perform this duty and render a final professional service to their patients.

Medicolegal Death Investigation System in America / 대한법의학회지

Medicolegal death investigations in the U.S. have become a critical part of crime investigations over the past several decades. additionally, the roles of medical examiners (MEs) and coroners have expanded beyond the field of criminal justice in recent years. despite the fact that these roles are becoming increasingly more important a systematic and comprehensive study of this complicated system is yet to be conducted. Since there is no national standard or federal system, medicolegal death investigations vary across states, districts, and counties in the U.S. In this paper, we attempted to classify the systems into three categories. We also examined the roles and work procedures that MEs and coroners commonly share across the country as well as the problems and challenges that the medicolegal death investigation system is facing today. In addition, we have also provided a brief summary of the Korean system in order to add a comparative perspective, since the Korean legal system differs substantially that of the U.S.

Historical Development of Forensic Pathology in the United States / 대한법의학회지

While forensic pathology has become a vital tool in solving crime over recent years, it remains a vague term to many criminal justice practitioners. Chronicling the development of autopsy and forensic pathology in the United States will introduce this modern field. An examination of forensic pathology will also explain how its role has evolved to accommodate legal and civil issues. The utility of forensic pathology extends well beyond the medical realm by affecting the core of the medicolegal investigative system in the United States.