Bill Text: CT SB00187 | 2012 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Electronic Death Registration System.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-29 - Public Hearing 03/07 [SB00187 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2012-SB00187-Introduced.html

---

General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 187
February Session, 2012		LCO No. 960
		*00960_______PH_*
Referred to Committee on Public Health
Introduced by:
(PH)

AN ACT CONCERNING THE ELECTRONIC DEATH REGISTRATION SYSTEM.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 7-62b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2012):

(c) The medical certification portion of the death certificate shall be completed, signed and [returned] submitted to the licensed funeral director or licensed embalmer no later than twenty-four hours after death by the physician or advanced practice registered nurse in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which resulted in death, or upon the death of an infant delivered by a nurse-midwife, by such nurse-midwife, as provided in section 20-86b. In the absence of such physician or advanced practice registered nurse, or with the physician's or advanced practice registered nurse's approval, the medical certification may be completed and signed by an associate physician, an advanced practice registered nurse, a physician assistant as provided in subsection (d) of section 20-12d, a registered nurse as provided in section 20-101a, the chief medical officer of the institution in which death occurred, or by the pathologist who performed an autopsy upon the decedent. No physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, registered nurse, nurse-midwife, chief medical officer or pathologist shall sign and [return] submit the medical certification unless such physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, registered nurse, nurse-midwife, chief medical officer or pathologist has personally viewed and examined the body of the person to whom the medical certification relates and is satisfied that at the time of the examination such person was in fact dead, except in the event a medical certification is completed by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, registered nurse, nurse-midwife, chief medical officer or pathologist other than the one who made the determination and pronouncement of death, an additional viewing and examination of the body shall not be required. If a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, registered nurse, nurse-midwife, chief medical officer or pathologist refuses or otherwise fails to complete, sign and [return] submit the medical portion of the death certificate to the licensed funeral director or licensed embalmer within twenty-four hours after death, such licensed funeral director or embalmer may notify the Commissioner of Public Health of such refusal. The commissioner may, upon receipt of notification and investigation, assess a civil penalty against such physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, registered nurse, chief medical officer or pathologist not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars. Any person authorized to complete the medical certification portion of a death certificate in accordance with the provisions of this subsection and who has certified, or expects to certify, five or more deaths in a one-year period shall use the Department of Public Health's electronic death registration system to complete and submit the medical certification in the manner prescribed by the department. The medical certification shall state the cause of death, defined so that such death may be classified under the international list of causes of death, the duration of disease if known and such additional information as the Department of Public Health requires. The department shall give due consideration to national uniformity in vital statistics in prescribing the form and content of such information.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2012	7-62b(c)

Statement of Purpose:

To require persons authorized to complete the medical certification portion of a death certificate to complete and submit such certification through the Department of Public Health's electronic death registration system.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]