SSB 1192 (LSB 2507XC (2) 90)

SENATE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON ZAUN)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to medical certification of a suicide on a death certificate and providing for licensee discipline.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 144.28, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   144.28  Medical certification  —— licensee discipline.
   1.  a.  For the purposes of this section, “nonnatural cause of death”: 
   (1)  “Nonnatural cause of death” means the death is a direct or indirect result of physical, chemical, thermal, or electrical trauma, or drug or alcohol intoxication or other poisoning, or is a suicide.
   (2)  “Suicide” means the act or instance of intentionally taking one’s own life.
   b.  Unless there is a nonnatural cause of death, the medical certification shall be completed and signed by the physician, physician assistant, or advanced registered nurse practitioner in charge of the patient’s care for the illness or condition which resulted in death within seventy-two hours after receipt of the death certificate from the funeral director or individual who initially assumes custody of the body.
   c.  (1)  If there is a nonnatural cause of death, the county or state medical examiner shall be notified and shall conduct an inquiry.
   (2)  If the nonnatural cause of death is determined to be a suicide, the person completing the medical certification of cause of death shall do all of the following:
   (a)  List the lethal drug, overdose, or other means of suicide that caused or contributed to the death among the chain of events under cause of death or under significant conditions contributing to death.
   (b)  If a lethal drug, overdose, or other means of suicide is listed in the chain of events under cause of death, indicate suicide as the manner of death.
   d.  If the decedent was an infant or child and the cause of death is not known, a medical examiner’s inquiry shall be conducted and an autopsy performed as necessary to exclude a nonnatural cause of death.
   e.  If upon inquiry into a death, the county or state medical examiner determines that a preexisting natural disease or condition was the likely cause of death and that the death does not affect the public interest as described in section 331.802, subsection 3, the medical examiner may elect to defer to the physician, physician assistant, or advanced registered nurse practitioner in charge of the patient’s preexisting condition the certification of the cause of death.
   f.  When an inquiry is required by the county or state medical examiner, the medical examiner shall investigate the cause and manner of death and shall complete and sign the medical certification within seventy-two hours after determination of the cause and manner of death.
   2.  The person completing the medical certification of cause of death shall attest to its accuracy either by signature or by an electronic process approved by rule.
   3.  A person completing the medical certification of cause of death who knowingly omits listing a lethal drug, overdose, or other means of suicide or improperly states the manner of death in violation of this section commits unprofessional conduct and is subject to licensee discipline by the appropriate licensing board or department.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to information regarding suicide in a medical certification for a nonnatural cause of death.
   The bill provides that a nonnatural cause of death, in addition to a death that is a direct or indirect result of physical, chemical, thermal, or electrical trauma, or drug or alcohol intoxication or other poisoning, explicitly includes a suicide. Suicide is defined as the act or instance of intentionally taking one’s own life.
   Under current law, if there is a nonnatural cause of death, the county or state medical examiner shall be notified and shall conduct an inquiry. The bill provides that if the nonnatural cause of death is determined to be a suicide, the person completing the medical certification of cause of death shall list the lethal drug, overdose, or other means of suicide that caused or contributed to the death among the chain of events under cause of death or under significant conditions contributing to death; and if a lethal drug, overdose, or other means of suicide is listed in the chain of events under cause of death, the person shall indicate suicide as the manner of death.
   The bill also provides that a person completing the medical certification of cause of death who knowingly omits listing a lethal drug, overdose, or other means of suicide or improperly states the manner of death in violation of this Code section, commits unprofessional conduct and is subject to licensee discipline by the appropriate licensing board or department.