Inaccuracy of Death Certificates Unsettling

Death certificates establish a legal basis for lifeinsurance and estate settlements, provide critical information for descendants,and advance knowledge about diseases and other causes of death. 

Two recent studies of New York City doctorssupport the long suspected notion that the nation’s leading killer, heartdisease, is being overreported and diseases like pneumonia and cancer are beingunderreported.  More shockingly, 54percent of the doctors polled reported knowingly recording an inaccurate causeof death and only one-third of doctors reported trusting in the current system.

The reasons for inaccuracy vary.  Some assume care of other doctor’s patientsand can’t accurately record the death, others have to pick causes that fit within established data codes, while others can’t properly fill out adeath certificate due to a lack of formal training.

The New York City Department of Health and MentalHygiene introduced a training program in 2009 to improve the quality of deathcertificate information.  Since itsinception, the program has decreased heart disease as a cause of death in itschosen hospitals and increased recordings of influenza, pneumonia, chroniclower respiratory disease, strokes, and cancer.

SeeLawrence Altman, Making the Right Call,Even in Death, The New York Times, July 1, 2013.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professorof Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.