GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 957

Short Title:  Phys. Signature Cert./Death Records.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representatives Edwards; and Mosley.

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Referred to:  Public Health.

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April 8, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT AN ELECTRONIC OR FACSIMILE SIGNATURE OF A PHYSICIAN PROVIDING MEDICAL CERTIFICATION OF DEATH IS ACCEPTABLE IF APPROVED BY THE STATE REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 130A-115(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	The medical certification shall be completed and signed by the  physician in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which resulted in death, except when the death falls within the circumstances described in G.S. 130A-383. In the absence of the physician or with the physician's approval, the certificate may be completed and signed by an associate physician, the chief medical officer of the hospital or facility in which the death occurred or a physician who performed an autopsy upon the decedent under the following circumstances: the individual has access to the medical history of the deceased; the individual has viewed the deceased at or after death; and the death is due to natural causes. When specifically approved by the State Registrar, an electronic or facsimile signature of the physician shall be acceptable. The physician shall state the cause of death on the certificate in definite and precise terms. A certificate containing any indefinite terms or denoting only symptoms of disease or conditions resulting from disease as defined by the State Registrar, shall be returned to the person making the medical certification for correction and more definite statement."
Section 2. This act is effective when it becomes law.