my 92 year old patient was found dead on her kitchen floor this morning. maybe not a bad way to go compared to some other options, but she leaves me with a dilemma. in the state where i practice, you cannot list 'unknown' as the cause of death. you must write something, anything, to satisfy the powers that be. so we called the medical examiner's office and were essentially told to just put any probable cause. heaven forbid we reveal that we don't know everything...
and to my lovely now-departed patient - you were as mischievous in death as you were in life. i will miss you!
Just put Sudden Cardiac Death. It won't be questioned and is probably correct. Hey, we all die of something. She probably got her choice.
ReplyDeletebelieve it or not, you are not allowed to put that as a cause of death.
ReplyDeleteYou have got to be kidding me! No wonder I'm not finding it on the death certificates from my family. LQTS runs in the family and when someone drops dead the coroner lists it as organic heart disease. I was thinking the man was just stupid.
ReplyDeleteOh, and since I have been insensitive enough to have not said it yet, I am sorry for the loss of your patient.
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