68-3-502 - Death registration.
68-3-502. Death registration.
(a) (1) A death certificate for each death that occurs in this state shall be filed with the office of vital records or as otherwise directed by the state registrar within five (5) days after death and prior to final disposition, or as prescribed by regulations of the department. It shall be registered, if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section.
(2) If the place of death is unknown but the body is found in this state, the death certificate shall be completed and filed in accordance with this section. The place where the body is found shall be shown as the place of death. If the date of death is unknown, it shall be determined by the date the body was found.
(3) When death occurs in a moving conveyance in the United States and the body is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the death shall be registered in this state and the place where it is first removed shall be considered the place of death. When a death occurs on a moving conveyance while in international waters or airspace or in a foreign country and the body is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the death shall be registered in this state; but the certificate shall show the actual place of death insofar as can be determined.
(b) The funeral director, or person acting as funeral director, who first assumes custody of the dead body shall file the death certificate. The funeral director shall obtain the personal data from the next of kin or the best qualified person or source available, and shall obtain the medical certification from the person responsible for medical certification, as set forth in subsection (c).
(c) (1) The medical certification shall be completed, signed and returned to the funeral director by the physician in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition that resulted in death within forty-eight (48) hours after death, except when inquiry is required by the county medical examiner. In the absence of the physician, the certificate may be completed and signed by another physician designated by the physician or by the chief medical officer of the institution in which the death occurred. In cases of deaths that occur outside of a medical institution and are either unattended by a physician or not under hospice care, the county medical examiner shall investigate and certify the death certificate when one (1) of the following conditions exists:
(A) There is no physician who had attended the deceased during the four (4) months preceding death, except that any physician who had attended the patient more than four (4) months preceding death may elect to certify the death certificate if the physician can make a good faith determination as to cause of death and if the county medical examiner has not assumed jurisdiction; or
(B) The physician who had attended the deceased during the four (4) months preceding death communicates, orally or in writing, to the county medical examiner that, in the physician's best medical judgment, the patient's death did not result from the illness or condition for which the physician was attending the patient.
(2) Sudden infant death syndrome shall not be listed as the cause of death of a child, unless the death meets the definition set forth in title 68, chapter 1, part 11.
(3) (A) In addition to the provisions of this section, prior to signing medical certification of the cause of death, the physician, chief medical officer or medical examiner shall require screening x-rays of the skull, long bones and chest of any child who was not subject to an autopsy and who died of unknown causes or whose death is suspected to be from sudden infant death syndrome.
(B) The physician, chief medical officer or medical examiner who orders the x-ray examinations pursuant to this section shall be entitled to a reasonable fee as set by the commissioner of health for the costs of the x-ray examinations, to be paid from the funds allotted to the postmortem examiners program in the department of health.
(d) When inquiry is required, the medical examiner shall determine the cause of death and shall complete and sign the medical certification within forty-eight (48) hours after taking charge of the case.
(e) If the cause of death cannot be determined within forty-eight (48) hours after death, the medical certification shall be completed as provided by regulation. The attending physician or medical examiner shall give the funeral director, or person acting as funeral director, notice of the reason for the delay; and final disposition of the body shall not be made until authorized by the attending physician or medical examiner.
(f) If the death occurs in a military or veteran's hospital or in a state veteran's home in the state of Tennessee, the death certificate may be signed by the attending physician who holds a license in another state.
(g) In the event a person is dead on arrival at a military or veteran's hospital or at a state veteran's home in the state of Tennessee, the death certificate may be signed by a physician who is employed by one (1) of these institutions and who holds a license in another state.
(h) The form for a certificate of death shall contain a place for the recording of the deceased's social security number and the social security number shall be recorded on the certificate and on any forms necessary to prepare the certificate.
[Acts 1977, ch. 128, § 14; T.C.A., § 53-471; Acts 1992, ch. 886, § 1; 1997, ch. 551, § 34; 1998, ch. 1077, §§ 1, 2; 2001, ch. 321, § 4; 2008, ch. 866, § 1.]