What does the medical examiner do that helps families and friends?
The medical examiner signs the death certificate with the cause and manner of death and produces autopsy reports. The benefits of a properly certified death certificate or autopsy report are legal and medical. The next of kin must have a properly completed death certificate and in some cases a certified copy of the autopsy report for legal purposes to claim insurance, receive government benefits, settle the decedents estate and pursue any legal actions they wish to initiate. Also, the criminal and civil courts require certified documentation of the cause and manner of death. Medical benefits include medical determination of the cause of death, recognition of unsuspected, unnatural causes of death, the identification of public health hazards to family and others, and sometimes the identification of a health condition that may be hereditary.
