§ 4-212. Death certificates
West's Annotated Code of MarylandHealth--GeneralEffective: October 1, 2019
Effective: October 1, 2019
MD Code, Health - General, § 4-212
§ 4-212. Death certificates
(b)(1) A certificate of death regardless of age of decedent shall be filled out and signed by:
(4) The medical certification shall be completed within 24 hours after receipt of the death certificate by the physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which resulted in death, except when inquiry is required by the medical examiner.
(iv) A physician designated by the State Anatomy Board, only if within 72 hours after the State Anatomy Board takes charge of the body, the State Anatomy Board has failed after a good faith effort to make contact with any of the individuals described in items (i), (ii), or (iii) of this paragraph or paragraph (4) of this subsection.
(c) Each individual concerned with carrying out this subtitle promptly shall notify the medical examiner if:
(d)(1)(i) If, within 24 hours after taking charge of a body, the medical examiner has not determined the cause of death, the medical examiner shall enter “investigation pending” in the cause of death section of the death certificate.
(ii) The State Anatomy Board shall send to the Secretary a report of the cause of death for entry on a death certificate completed under subsection (b)(5)(iv) of this section if the State Anatomy Board receives information about the cause of death from an individual described in subsection (b)(4) or (5)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section.
(e)(1) A physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner who fills out a certificate of death shall give it or transmit it by approved electronic media, including facsimile, to the mortician within 24 hours after the death occurred.
(f)(1) If a death occurs on a common carrier in the United States and the body is removed from the carrier in this State, the death shall be registered in this State, and the place where it is first removed shall be considered the place of death. When a death occurs on a common carrier while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air space and the body is first removed from the carrier 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.
(g) A mortician who obtains a certificate of death under this section shall file the certificate within 72 hours after the death.
(h)(1) Except as authorized under this subtitle, an individual who has a duty to fill out and sign a certificate of death may not execute more than one certificate for a death.
(2) The attending physician, the physician assistant, the nurse practitioner, or a medical examiner who takes charge of a body may file a replacement death certificate if a correction that the physician, the physician assistant, the nurse practitioner, or medical examiner authorizes cannot be entered legibly on the original certificate.
Credits
Added by Acts 1982, c. 21, § 2, eff. July 1, 1982. Amended by Acts 1995, c. 97, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1995; Acts 2008, c. 232, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2008; Acts 2008, c. 233, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2008; Acts 2009, c. 599, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2009; Acts 2009, c. 600, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2009; Acts 2013, c. 273, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; Acts 2013, c. 274, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; Acts 2019, c. 558, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2019.
Formerly Art. 43, § 20.
MD Code, Health - General, § 4-212, MD HEALTH GEN § 4-212
Current through legislation effective through April 9, 2023, from the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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