THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY VANCE, ERICKSON, WARD, M. WHITE, BROWNE, KITCHEN, HUGHES, SCHWANK, RAFFERTY, EARLL, ALLOWAY, ARGALL, CORMAN, EICHELBERGER, FOLMER, GREENLEAF, McILHINNEY, PIPPY, ROBBINS, YAW, COSTA, DINNIMAN, FERLO, FONTANA, LEACH, SOLOBAY, WOZNIAK AND YUDICHAK, DECEMBER 19, 2011

REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, DECEMBER 19, 2011  

AN ACT

Amending the act of June 29, 1953 (P.L.304, No.66), entitled "An

act providing for the administration of a statewide system of

vital statistics; prescribing the functions of the State

Department of Health, the State Advisory Health Board and

local registrars; imposing duties upon coroners,

prothonotaries, clerks of orphans' court, physicians,

midwives and other persons; requiring reports and

certificates for the registration of vital statistics;

regulating the disposition of dead bodies; limiting the

disclosure of records; prescribing the sufficiency of vital

statistics records as evidence; prescribing fees and

penalties; and revising and consolidating the laws relating

thereto," further providing for death and fetal death

registration information for certificates, for coroner

referrals and for pronouncement of death by a professional

nurse.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Sections 502, 503 and 507 of the act of June 29,

1953 (P.L.304, No.66), known as the Vital Statistics Law of

1953, amended or added December 20, 1991 (P.L.399, No.46), are

amended to read:

Section 502.  Death and Fetal Death Registration: Information

for Certificates.--In preparing a certificate of death or fetal

death, the person in charge of interment or of removal of a dead

body or fetal remains from the registration district shall

obtain the required information. The following persons shall

supply the information certified by their respective signatures:

(1)  Personal information concerning the deceased or the

fetal death shall be supplied by the person best acquainted with

the facts.

(2)  Subject to the limitation contained in clause (3), the

medical certification, except in the event of a referral to the

coroner pursuant to section five hundred three of this act,

shall be supplied (i) in the case of a death, by the physician

or certified registered nurse practitioner or (ii) dentist who

is a staff member of an approved hospital who attended the

deceased during the last illness, provided the death occurs in

the hospital and the deceased had been admitted on the dental

service, and (iii) in the case of a fetal death, by the

attending physician or certified registered nurse practitioner.

(3)  In all cases where the physician, certified registered

nurse practitioner or dentist who would otherwise supply the

medical certification is a member of the immediate family of the

deceased, the case shall be referred to another physician,

certified registered nurse practitioner or dentist who qualifies

under clause (2) for a medical certification. In the event a

qualified alternate physician, certified registered nurse

practitioner or dentist is unavailable or unwilling to provide

the medical certification required by law, the case shall be

referred to the coroner of the county wherein the death occurred

or to a coroner of an adjacent county. In no event shall a

coroner sign a certificate of death or fetal death for a

deceased who was a member of his immediate family.

Section 503.  Death and Fetal Death Registration: Coroner

Referrals.--The local registrar or person in charge of interment

or other person having knowledge of the death or fetal death

shall refer to the coroner the following cases: (1) where no

physician, certified registered nurse practitioner or dentist

who is a staff member of an approved hospital was in attendance

during the last illness of the deceased or in the case of a

fetal death where there was no attending physician[,] or

certified registered nurse practitioner or (2) where the

physician, certified registered nurse practitioner or dentist

who is a staff member of an approved hospital in attendance

during the last illness of the deceased or the attending

physician or certified registered nurse practitioner in the case

of a fetal death is physically unable to supply the necessary

data, or (3) where the circumstances suggest that the death was

sudden or violent or suspicious in nature or was the result of

other than natural causes, or (4) where the physician, certified

registered nurse practitioner, dentist or coroner who provided

or would provide the medical certification is a member of the

immediate family of the deceased. In every instance of a

referral under this section, the coroner shall make an immediate

investigation and shall supply the necessary data, including the

medical certification of the death or fetal death. In no event

shall a coroner sign a certificate of death or fetal death for a

deceased who was a member of his immediate family.

Section 507.  Death and Fetal Death Registrations:

Pronouncement of Death by a Professional Nurse.--(a)

Professional nurses licensed under the act of May 22, 1951

(P.L.317, No.69), known as "The Professional Nursing Law," who

are involved in direct care of a patient shall have the

authority to pronounce death as determined under the act of

December 17, 1982 (P.L.1401, No.323), known as the "Uniform

Determination of Death Act," in the case of death from natural

causes of a patient who is under the care of a physician or

certified registered nurse practitioner when the physician is

unable to be present within a reasonable period of time to

certify the cause of death.

(b)  Professional nurses shall have the authority to release

the body of the deceased to a funeral director after notice has

been given to the attending physician or certified registered

nurse practitioner, when the deceased has an attending physician

or certified registered nurse practitioner, and to a family

member.

(c)  If circumstances surrounding the nature of death are not

anticipated and require a coroner's investigation, the

professional nurse shall notify the county coroner, and the

authority to release the body of the deceased to the funeral

director shall be that of the coroner.

(d)  [This] Except as provided for under sections 502 and

503, this section provides for the pronouncement of death by

professional nurses in accordance with the "Uniform

Determination of Death Act," but in no way authorizes a nurse to

determine the cause of death. The responsibility for determining

the cause of death remains with the physician, certified

registered nurse practitioner or the coroner as provided under

this act.

(e)  (1)  Professional nurses and employing agencies of

professional nurses acting in good faith and in compliance with

the guidelines established by this act and the State Board of

Nursing shall be immune from liability claims by reason of

pronouncing death.

(2)  Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to

impose any obligation upon a professional nurse to carry out the

function authorized by this act.

(3)  Nothing in this section is intended to relieve a

professional nurse of any civil or criminal liability that might

otherwise be incurred for failing to follow the rules and

regulations of the State Board of Nursing.

(4)  Nothing in this section shall preempt the requirements

of the provisions of 20 Pa.C.S. Ch. 86 (relating to anatomical

gifts).

Section 2.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.