State Of Iowa Iowa Department Of Public Health Certificate Of Death (Page 3 of 4) in pdf

State Of Iowa Iowa Department Of Public Health Certificate Of Death Page 3

DEATHS THAT FALL UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF A MEDICAL EXAMINER

Deaths that have an impact on the “public’s interest” are routinely investigated by the County

Medical Examiners under the guidance of the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner.

Deaths affecting the public’s interest include deaths that are:

Sudden, Unexpected, Violent, Suspicious, or Unattended

Deaths that come under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner’s Office are outlined in Iowa

Code section 331.802(3) and generally include, but are not limited to:

1. Violent death, including homicide, suicide, or accidental death resulting from physical.

2. Death caused by mechanical, thermal, electrical, or radiation injury.

3. Death caused by criminal abortion, including self-induced, or by sexual abuse.

4. Death related to disease thought to be virulent or contagious that may constitute a public

hazard.

5. Death that occurred unexpectedly or from an unexplained cause.

6. Death of a person confined in a prison, jail, or correctional institution.

7. Death of a person who was pre-diagnosed as a terminal or bedfast case who did not

have a physician in attendance within the preceding thirty days; or death of a person

who was admitted to and had received services from a hospice program as defined in

Code section 135J.1, if a physician or registered nurse employed by the program was

not in attendance within thirty days preceding death.

8. Death of a person if the body is not claimed by a person authorized to control the

deceased person’s remains under section 144C5, or a friend.

9. Death of a person if the identity of the deceased is unknown or the body is unclaimed.

10. Death of a child under the age of two years if death results from an unknown cause or if

the circumstances surrounding the death indicate that sudden infant death syndrome

may be the cause of death.

11. Death of a person committed or admitted to a state mental health institute, a state

resource center, the state training school, or the Iowa juvenile home.

12. Death of a person under the age of 55 who died suddenly when in apparent good health;

13. Death due to suspicious circumstances.

14. Death due to unknown or obscure causes.

Custody deaths.

15.

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