PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 302 PRINTER'S NO. 2982
No. 270 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY PISTELLA, OLASZ, ROBINSON, MARKOSEK, PRESTON,
KAISER, VAN HORNE, LEVDANSKY, COWELL, GIGLIOTTI, DeLUCA,
TRELLO, MICHLOVIC, McVERRY, PETRONE AND ITKIN,
FEBRUARY 7, 1989
AS AMENDED ON THIRD CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
JANUARY 24, 1990
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 * * *
1 (9) "Immediate family member" means grandparents, parents,
2 children SIBLINGS, grandchildren, spouses and children. <--
3 Section 2. Sections 502 and 503 of the act, amended November
4 21, 1967 (P.L.516, No.250), are amended to read:
5 Section 502. Death and Fetal Death Registration: Information
6 for Certificates.--In preparing a certificate of death or fetal
7 death, the person in charge of interment or of removal of a dead
8 body or fetal remains from the registration district shall
9 obtain the required information. The following persons shall
10 supply the information certified by their respective signatures:
11 (1) Personal information concerning the deceased or the
12 fetal death shall be supplied by the person best acquainted with
13 the facts.
14 (2) [The] Subject to the limitation contained in clause (3),
15 the medical certification, except in the event of a referral to
16 the coroner pursuant to section five hundred three of this act,
17 shall be supplied (i) in the case of a death, by the physician
18 or (ii) dentist who is a staff member of an approved hospital
19 who attended the deceased during the last illness, provided the
20 death occurs in the hospital and the deceased had been admitted
21 on the dental service, and (iii) in the case of a fetal death,
22 by the attending physician.
23 (3) In all cases where the physician or dentist who would
24 otherwise supply the medical certification is a member of the
25 immediate family of the deceased, the case shall be referred to
26 another physician or dentist who qualifies under clause (2) for
27 a medical certification. In the event a qualified alternate
28 physician or dentist is unavailable or unwilling to provide the
29 medical certification required by law, the case shall be
30 referred to the coroner of the county wherein the death occurred
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1 OR TO A CORONER OF AN ADJACENT COUNTY. IN NO EVENT SHALL A <--
2 CORONER SIGN A CERTIFICATE OF DEATH OR FETAL DEATH FOR A
3 DECEASED WHO WAS A MEMBER OF HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY.
4 Section 503. Death and Fetal Death Registration: Coroner
5 Referrals.--The local registrar or person in charge of interment
6 or other person having knowledge of the death or fetal death
7 shall refer to the coroner the following cases: (1) where no
8 physician or dentist who is a staff member of an approved
9 hospital was in attendance during the last illness of the
10 deceased or in the case of a fetal death where there was no
11 attending physician, or (2) where the physician or dentist who
12 is a staff member of an approved hospital in attendance during
13 the last illness of the deceased or the attending physician in
14 the case of a fetal death is physically unable to supply the
15 necessary data, or (3) where the circumstances suggest that the
16 death was sudden or violent or suspicious in nature or was the
17 result of other than natural causes, or (4) where the physician
18 or, dentist OR CORONER who provided or would provide the medical <--
19 certification is a member of the immediate family of the
20 deceased. In every instance of a referral under this section,
21 the coroner shall make an immediate investigation and shall
22 supply the necessary data, including the medical certification
23 of the death or fetal death. IN NO EVENT SHALL A CORONER SIGN A <--
24 CERTIFICATE OF DEATH OR FETAL DEATH FOR A DECEASED WHO WAS A
25 MEMBER OF HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY.
26 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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