Sunday, January 22, 2017

Mandatory Review of "Each Death" by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Is a Sham

To view similar information in a pdf format, see Margaret Dore's memo opposing Act 21-577, which can be viewed here and here.

The Act provides for review of “each death” under the Act by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The Act, states:
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall review each death involving a qualified patient who ingests a covered medication [lethal drug] and, if warranted by the review, may conduct an investigation.  (Emphasis added).
The Act, § 6(i)(1) .

The Act, however, has no mechanism for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to know when a death under the Act has occurred:
The death certificate will not disclose it; providers who dispense the lethal drug are required to report to the Department of Health, not the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner; and required rule making concerns notice to the Department of Health, not the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.[1. 2, 3]

With no mechanism to inform the Office of Chief Medical Examiner that a death under the Act has occurred, the purported mandatory review of “each death” by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is a sham.

Footnotes

[1]  The Act states:
The cause of death listed on a death certificate shall identify the qualified patient’s underlying medical condition . . .  without reference to the fact that the qualified patient ingested a covered medication. (Emphasis added).
The Act, § 6 (h) .

[2]  The Act, § 2(6), states “‘Department’ means the Department of Health.” The Act also states, at  § 6:
(e) Within 30 days after a health care provider dispenses a covered medication [lethal drug], the attending physician shall file with the Department a copy of the information required by section 7 on a form created by the Department.
(f) Within 30 days after a patient ingests a covered medication [lethal drug], or as soon as practicable after the a (sic) health care provider is made aware of a patient’s death resulting from ingesting the covered medication [lethal drug], the health care provider shall notify the Department of a patient’s death. (Emphasis added).
[3]  See the Act, § 15(a)(1) & (2) regarding the issuance of mandatory rules to develop the form “required by section 7" and to facilitate the collection of data “required by section 7." Section 7 requires attending physicians to notify the Department of Health, not the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.