Medical examiners employed by health authorities should audit death certificates

BMJ 1999;318:1559 ( 5 June )

Letters

Medical examiners employed by health authorities should audit death certificates

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Horner may be right that there is an impending crisis in recruiting medical referees to crematoria, but I disagreewith his assertion that abandoning the present system would behazardous.¹ Presumably the hazard is failing to detect a homicide,but the Brodrick committee concluded in 1971 that "secret homicidehas not been a significant danger at any time in the past 50 years."²

After 10 years' experience as the medical referee to a large crematorium I have no confidence that I could detect a secrethomicide from the certificates B and C, despite considerable effortsto ensure that the forms are completed fully. I do not see myrole as undertaking medical audit, nor do I consider that theforms give enough information for standards of medical care tobe assessed. I strongly support the Brodrick committee's recommendationsthat an improved death certificate would be adequate to alloweither cremation or . . . [Full text of this article]