PRINTER'S NO. 302
No. 270 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY PISTELLA, OLASZ, ROBINSON, MARKOSEK, PRESTON,
KAISER, VAN HORNE, LEVDANSKY, COWELL, GIGLIOTTI, DeLUCA,
TRELLO, MICHLOVIC, McVERRY AND PETRONE, FEBRUARY 7, 1989
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND WELFARE, FEBRUARY 7, 1989
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 29, 1953 (P.L.304, No.66), entitled "An
2 act providing for the administration of a statewide system of
3 vital statistics; prescribing the functions of the State
4 Department of Health, the State Advisory Health Board and
5 local registrars; imposing duties upon coroners,
6 prothonotaries, clerks of orphans' court, physicians,
7 midwives and other persons; requiring reports and
8 certificates for the registration of vital statistics;
9 regulating the disposition of dead bodies; limiting the
10 disclosure of records; prescribing the sufficiency of vital
11 statistics records as evidence; prescribing fees and
12 penalties; and revising and consolidating the laws relating
13 thereto," further providing for the medical certification for
14 death certificates and for referrals to coroners.
15 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
16 hereby enacts as follows:
17 Section 1. Section 105 of the act of June 29, 1953 (P.L.304,
18 No.66), known as the Vital Statistics Law of 1953, is amended by
19 adding a clause to read:
20 Section 105. General Provisions: Definitions.--As used in
21 this act--
22 * * *
23 (9) "Immediate family member" means grandparents, parents,
1 children, grandchildren, spouses and children.
2 Section 2. Sections 502 and 503 of the act, amended November
3 21, 1967 (P.L.516, No.250), are amended to read:
4 Section 502. Death and Fetal Death Registration: Information
5 for Certificates.--In preparing a certificate of death or fetal
6 death, the person in charge of interment or of removal of a dead
7 body or fetal remains from the registration district shall
8 obtain the required information. The following persons shall
9 supply the information certified by their respective signatures:
10 (1) Personal information concerning the deceased or the
11 fetal death shall be supplied by the person best acquainted with
12 the facts.
13 (2) [The] Subject to the limitation contained in clause (3),
14 the medical certification, except in the event of a referral to
15 the coroner pursuant to section five hundred three of this act,
16 shall be supplied (i) in the case of a death, by the physician
17 or (ii) dentist who is a staff member of an approved hospital
18 who attended the deceased during the last illness, provided the
19 death occurs in the hospital and the deceased had been admitted
20 on the dental service, and (iii) in the case of a fetal death,
21 by the attending physician.
22 (3) In all cases where the physician or dentist who would
23 otherwise supply the medical certification is a member of the
24 immediate family of the deceased, the case shall be referred to
25 another physician or dentist who qualifies under clause (2) for
26 a medical certification. In the event a qualified alternate
27 physician or dentist is unavailable or unwilling to provide the
28 medical certification required by law, the case shall be
29 referred to the coroner of the county wherein the death
30 occurred.
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1 Section 503. Death and Fetal Death Registration: Coroner
2 Referrals.--The local registrar or person in charge of interment
3 or other person having knowledge of the death or fetal death
4 shall refer to the coroner the following cases: (1) where no
5 physician or dentist who is a staff member of an approved
6 hospital was in attendance during the last illness of the
7 deceased or in the case of a fetal death where there was no
8 attending physician, or (2) where the physician or dentist who
9 is a staff member of an approved hospital in attendance during
10 the last illness of the deceased or the attending physician in
11 the case of a fetal death is physically unable to supply the
12 necessary data, or (3) where the circumstances suggest that the
13 death was sudden or violent or suspicious in nature or was the
14 result of other than natural causes, or (4) where the physician
15 or dentist who provided or would provide the medical
16 certification is a member of the immediate family of the
17 deceased. In every instance of a referral under this section,
18 the coroner shall make an immediate investigation and shall
19 supply the necessary data, including the medical certification
20 of the death or fetal death.
21 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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