N.M. Admin. Code § 7.3.2.13

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 23, December 10, 2024

Section 7.3.2.13 - CERTIFICATION OF DEATH

A. Citations and Regulations:

(1)24-11-6 NMSA 1978: If, after reviewing the body, notifying the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction and making an investigation, the state or district medical investigator is satisfied that the death was not caused by criminal act or omission and that there are no suspicious circumstances about the death, he shall execute a death certificate in the form required by law. He shall also execute a certificate on a form prescribed by the health and social services department [health and environment department], authorizing release of the body to the funeral director for burial. In those cases in which the investigation is performed by a deputy medical investigator, if, after viewing the body, notifying the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction and making an investigation, he is satisfied that the death was not caused by criminal act or omission and that there are no suspicious circumstances about the death, he shall report this finding to the state or district medical investigator under whose direction he is working. Upon receipt of a report from a deputy medical investigator under this subsection, the state or district medical investigator may execute a death certificate and a certificate authorizing release of the body for burial.

(2)24-14-20 NMSA 1978:

(a) A death certificate for each death which occurs in this state shall be filed within five days after the death and prior to final disposition. The death certificate shall be registered by the state registrar if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section, subject to the exception provided in Section 24-14-24 NMSA 1978; provided that:

(i) if the place is unknown, but the dead body is found in this state, a death certificate shall be filed with a local registrar within ten days after the occurrence. The place where the body is found shall be shown as the place of death. If the date of death is unknown, it shall be approximated by the state medical investigator; and

(ii) if death occurs in a moving conveyance in the United States, and the body is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the death shall be registered in this state and the place where the body is first removed shall be considered the place of death. When a death occurs on a moving conveyance while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air space and the body is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the death shall be registered in this state but the certificate shall show the actual place of death insofar as can be determined by the state medical investigator.

(b) The funeral service practitioner or person acting as funeral service practitioner who first assumes custody of a dead body shall file the death certificate. He shall obtain the personal data from the next of kin or the best qualified person or source available. He shall obtain the medical certification of cause of death.

(c) The medical certification shall be completed and signed within forty-eight hours after death by the physician in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which resulted in death except when inquiry is required by law. In the absence of the physician, or with his approval, the certificate may be completed and signed by his associate physician, the chief medical officer of the institution in which death occurred or the physician who performed an autopsy on the decedent, provided such individual has access to the medical history of the case, views the deceased at or after death and death is due to natural causes.

(d) When death occurs without medical attendance as set forth in Paragraph C of this section [now Subparagraph (c) of Paragraph (2) or Subsection A of 7.3.2.13 NMAC], or when death occurs more than ten days after the decedent was last treated by a physician, the case shall be referred to the state medical investigator for investigation to determine and certify the cause of death.

(e) An amended death certificate based on an anatomical observation must be filed within thirty days of the completion of an autopsy.

(3)24-14-21 NMSA 1978:

(a) When a death occurring in this state has not been registered, a certificate may be filed in accordance with regulations of the board of medical investigators. The certificate shall be registered subject to evidentiary requirements as prescribed by regulation to substantiate the alleged facts of death.

(b) Certificates of death registered one year or more after the date of death shall be marked "delayed" and shall show on their face the date of the delayed registration.

(4)24-14-24 NMSA 1978:

(a) The department may, by regulation and upon conditions as it may prescribe to assure compliance with the purposes of the Vital Statistics Act [24-14-1 to 2414-20 to 24-14-31 NMSA 1978], provide for the extension of the periods prescribed in Sections 24-14-20, 24-1423 NMSA 1978 for the filing of death certificates, spontaneous fetal death reports, medical certifications of cause of death and for the obtaining of burial-transit permits in cases where compliance with the applicable prescribed period would result in undue hardship.

(b) Regulations of the department may provide for the issuance of a burial-transit permit prior to the filing of a certificate upon conditions designed to assure compliance with the purposes of the Vital Statistics Act in cases where compliance with the requirement that the certificate be filed prior to the issuance of the permit would result in undue hardship.

(5)24-14-25 NMSA 1978:

(a) A certificate or report registered under the Vital Statistics Act [24-14-1 to 24-14-17, 24-14-20 to 2414-31 NMSA 1978] may be amended only in accordance with that act and regulations thereunder adopted by the department to protect the integrity and accuracy of vital statistics records.

(b) A certificate or report that is amended under this section shall be marked "amended," except as otherwise provided in this section. The date of the amendment and a summary description of the evidence submitted in support of the amendment shall be endorsed on or made a part of the record. The department shall prescribe by regulation the conditions under which additions or minor corrections may be made to certificates or records within one year after the date of the event without the certificate or record being marked "amended."

B. Policy: The certificate of death is the permanent record required by the bureau of vital statistics of the New Mexico department of health and environment. The office of the medical investigator is responsible for the completion of the certificate in all deaths reported to that office in which jurisdiction is assumed. This certification is to the cause (the anatomic condition causing death) and the manner (accident, suicide, accidental, homicide). The cause and manner of death shall be finally determined by the designated pathologist, in accordance with the findings and recommendations of the district and deputy medical investigators.

(1) Time limit for completion: The certificate (relating to a decedent at the central office), when completed by the pathologist assigned to the central office, shall be completed and released with the body. Where toxicology results are not available, a letter indicating that the case is pending shall be sent with the body. The certificate of death for all reportable deaths where the body is not brought to the central office must be completed immediately by the district medical investigator of that district and provided to the funeral director chosen by the family.

(2) Place of death unknown: The place where the body is found shall be the place of death. If the date is unknown, it may be approximated by the state medical investigator.

(3) Body in moving conveyance: If the body is in a moving conveyance on land and is first removed in this state, this state shall be considered the place of death. If the body is in a moving conveyance in international waters or air space, or in a foreign country, and the body is removed in this state, death is to be registered in this state, but certification can show the actual place of death if it can be determined by the state medical investigator.

(4) Death without medical attendance: A death occurring without medical attendance, including hospice cases, are reported to the office of the medical investigator. The office of the medical investigator shall certify the cause of death only in those cases in which the OMI retains jurisdiction. In all such unattended cases where the physician of record will certify to the cause of death, the OMI shall not prepare the certificate of death.

(5) Presumptive death: In cases where no body is located following a witnessed fatal event, an order issued by the court in which the presumed death occurred must be presented to the OMI in order for the death certificate to be issued.

(6) Amended death certificate: Amended death certificates based on anatomical observation must be filed within 30 days after completion of the autopsy.

N.M. Admin. Code § 7.3.2.13

Recompiled 10/31/01