SECTIONS 102775-102805 - California Statutes

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

SECTION 102775-102805

102775. Each death shall be registered with the local registrar of
births and deaths in the district in which the death was officially
pronounced or the body was found, within eight calendar days after
death and prior to any disposition of the human remains.

102778. (a) On or before January 1, 2005, the department shall
implement an Internet-based electronic death registration system for
the creation, storage, and transfer of death registration
information.
(b) The electronic death registration system implemented pursuant
to this section shall protect the proper use of the death
registration information created, stored, and transferred within the
system.
(c) The electronic death registration system that is implemented
pursuant to this section shall be subject to any limitation placed on
the accessibility and release of personally identifying information
contained in those death records by any other provision of law or
subsequently enacted legislation.

102780. A funeral director, or person acting in lieu thereof, shall
prepare the certificate and register it with the local registrar.

102785. The State Registrar, at his or her discretion, may
incorporate computer or telephone facsimile technology, or both, in
the statewide program of death and fetal death registration,
including, but not limited to, the issuing of permits for disposition
of human remains.
Nothing in this section shall limit the ability of local districts
to file certificates of death and fetal death manually within the
local registration districts.

102790. The funeral director shall obtain the required information
other than medical and health section data from the person or source
best qualified to supply this information.

102795. The medical and health section data and the time of death
shall be completed and attested to by the physician and surgeon last
in attendance, or in the case of a patient in a skilled nursing or
intermediate care facility at the time of death, by the physician and
surgeon last in attendance or by a licensed physician assistant
under the supervision of the physician and surgeon last in attendance
if the physician and surgeon or licensed physician assistant is
legally authorized to certify and attest to these facts, and if the
physician assistant has visited the patient within 72 hours of the
patient's death. In the event the licensed physician assistant
certifies the medical and health section data and the time of death,
then the physician assistant shall also provide on the document the
name of the last attending physician and surgeon and provide the
coroner with a copy of the certificate of death. However, the medical
health section data and the time of death shall be completed and
attested to by the coroner in those cases in which he or she is
required to complete the medical and health section data and certify
and attest to these facts.

102800. The medical and health section data and the physician's or
coroner's certification shall be completed by the attending physician
within 15 hours after the death, or by the coroner within three days
after examination of the body.
The physician shall within 15 hours after the death deposit the
certificate at the place of death, or deliver it to the attending
funeral director at his or her place of business or at the office of
the physician.

102805. An embalmer may authorize his or her signature to be
affixed to the certificate after he or she has embalmed a body, as
required by this chapter, by a written special power of attorney that
shall be retained for a period of one year.