J Korean Med Assoc.  2018 Aug;61(8):451-459. 10.5124/jkma.2018.61.8.451.

Determination of cause and manner of death

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Forensic Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. yoosh@snu.ac.kr
  • 2Institute of Forensic Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Medical certificates of death and post-mortem examinations reflect the exclusive competence of medical doctors, according to Article 17 of the Medical Service Act. Although a medical certificate of death is a legal document that requires the certifier's best intellectual effort to complete, the attempts of certifiers do not seem to improve the accuracy of the content. The death certificate plays several important roles. First, it guarantees legal proof of death, which exempts individuals from various rights and duties. Second, official investigations can be performed on the basis of the death certificate to elucidate the nature of any crime that may have been committed. Third, death certificates are the backbone of national death statistics, and therefore play a role in the distribution of national resources for health policy. The determination of cause and manner of death is inherently a laborious task. The World Health Organization has suggested that the medical certificate of death should present the chain of events leading to death in a successive sequence. Medical doctors should have a precise understanding of how to assess the cause and manner of death and must use succinct, clear language to ensure the credibility of death certificates.

Keyword

Cause of death; Death certificates; Causality

MeSH Terms

Autopsy
Cause of Death
Crime
Death Certificates
Health Policy
Mental Competency
World Health Organization

Figure

  • Figure 1 The international form of medical certificate of cause of death recommended by the World Health Organization. Reproduced from World Health Organization. International statistical classification of diseases and health related problems. 10th revision, Volume 2. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1993 [11].

  • Figure 2 The application of the general principle of determination for cause of death.


Reference

1. Supreme Court Decision. 99Do2328. 2007. 07. 13.
2. Korean Medical Association. Medical law. 1st ed. Paju: Beobmunsa;2008.
3. Kim KS, Lim YS, Rhee JE, Suh GJ, Youn YK, Eo EK, Youm SL, Jeong YK, Lee YS. Problems in completing a death certificate. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 2000; 11:443–449.
4. Yoon SH, Kim R, Lee CS. Analysis of death certificate errors of a university hospital emergency room. Korean J Leg Med. 2017; 41:61–66.
Article
5. Kim HG, Park JW, Cho WY, Seo JH, Choi CH, Na JY. The discrepancy of the cause and manner of death between death certificates and autopsy reports. Korean J Leg Med. 2014; 38:139–144.
Article
6. Korean Medical Association. How to write and issue medical certificates. Seoul: Korean Medical Association;2015.
7. Statistics Korea. Korean Medical Association. Guideline for writing death certificates IV [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea;2015. cited 2018 Mar 4. Available from: http://kostat.go.kr/portal/korea/kor_nw/1/1/index.board?bmode=read&aSeq=333319.
8. Kim MY, Lee SD. A proposal for writing a better death certificate. J Korean Med Assoc. 2018; 61:259–267.
Article
9. World Health Assembly. Twentieth World Health Assembly, Geneva, 8–26 May 1967: part I: resolutions and decisions: annexes [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization;1967. cited 2018 Mar 4. Available from: http://www.who.int/iris/handle/10665/85800.
10. World Health Assembly. Report of the conference for the sixth decennial revision of the international lists of diseases and causes of death [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization;1948. cited 2018 Mar 4. Available from: http://www.who.int/iris/handle/10665/97657.
11. World Health Organization. International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems. 10th revision. Geneva: World Health Organization;1993. Volume 2.
12. Park JH, Na JY, Lee BW, Choi YS. A statistical analysis on forensic autopsies performed in Korea in 2016. Korean J Leg Med. 2018; 42:8–21.
Article
13. World Health Organization. International statistical classification of diseases and health related problems. 10th revision. Geneva: World Health Organization;1992. Volume 1.
14. Takatori T, Sato Y, Oshima T. Death cancellation certificate: snore described in the corpse statements. Tokyo: Medicine Pharmaceutical Publishing;1997.
15. Supreme Court Decision. 93Da59304. 1994. 04. 26.
16. Supreme Court Decision. 2004Da13045. 2005. 10. 28.
17. Supreme Court Decision. 2004Do486. 2006. 10. 26.
Full Text Links
  • JKMA
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr