Section 146-5-1 - DefinitionsA. Attending Physician. "Attending physician" means the physician in charge of the decedent's care during the period preceding his or her death.B. Authorized Person. "Authorized person" means a person other than a funeral director who demonstrates authorization for final disposition of a dead body as required by M.R.S.A., Title 22, Sec. 2846.C. Burial-Transit Permit. "Burial-transit permit" means a permit for transportation, temporary storage, disinterment, or final disposition of a dead body by burial, cremation, burial at sea, use by medical science, or removal from the State, as specified by M.R.S.A., Title 22, Sec. 2843.D. Dead body. "Dead body" means a human body or parts of a human body, other than a fetus, from the condition of which it reasonably can be concluded that death occurred.E. Death Certificate. "Death certificate" means certificate of death as furnished by the state registrar for the purpose of registering deaths which occur in Maine, including the medical certification of the cause of death and personal data pertaining to the decedent.F. Department. "Department" means the State of Maine Department of Human Services.G. Fetus. "Fetus" means a product of conception dead prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother; the fetus shows no signs of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles.H. Funeral Director. "Funeral director" means a person licensed for the practice of funeral service in Maine, or his agent.I. Final Disposition. "Final disposition" means the burial, cremation, burial at sea, use by medical science, removal from the state, or other authorized disposition of a dead body or fetus.J. Institution. "Institution" means any establishment, public or private, which provides in-patient medical, surgical, or diagnostic care or treatment, custodial or domiciliary care, or to which persons are committed by law.K. Life-Sustaining Procedure. "Life-sustaining procedure" means, as specified in M.R.S.A. Title 22, Sec. 2842, any medical procedure or intervention that, when administered to a qualified patient, will serve only to prolong the dying process and shall not include nutrition and hydration.L. Medical Certification. "Medical certification" means the information on the cause(s) of death and the time, date, manner and circumstances of death.M. Municipal Clerk. "Municipal clerk" means the duly elected or appointed clerk of the city, town, or plantation where death occurred, where the death certificate is required to be filed by M.R.S.A., Title 22, Sec. 2703, or where an establishment of the funeral director having custody of the dead body is located.N. Medical Examiner's Release. "Medical examiner's release" means a certificate from a duly appointed medical examiner that he has made personal inquiry into the cause and manner of death and is satisfied that no further examination or judicial inquiry is necessary, as specified by M.R.S.A. Title 32, Sec. 1405.O. Report of Death. "Report of death" means a statement from a funeral director, as specified by M.R.S.A. Title 22, Sec. 2843, 2, that he has been unable to obtain a medical certification of the cause of death. The report of death must name the attending physician and include assurances that the physician has been contacted and will certify the death as due to natural causes. When a medical examiner is required to determine the cause of death, the report of death must name the medical examiner and include assurances that the medical examiner has been contacted and has indicated that the body can be released for embalming and final disposition.P. Registration. "Registration" means filing of a certificate with the municipal clerk as required by law. Registration is complete when the municipal clerk enters the date of filing, signs the certificate, and forwards a copy to the State Registrar.Q. Terminally Ill Patient. "Terminally ill patient" means a patient who has been diagnosed as having an incurable or irreversible condition that, without the administration of life-sustaining procedures, will, in the opinion of the attending physician, result in death within a short time, as specified by M.R.S.A., Title 22, Sec. 2848.