Thread on COVID Death Certificates

CDC report says for 6% of deaths, COVID-19 was the ONLY cause mentioned (on the death certificate) which is NOT THE SAME as saying 6% of people that died from #COVID did not have pre-existing conditions.

If 6% of death certificates ONLY had COVID-19 mentioned THEN the death certificate was filled out INCORRECTLY. In general death certificates are an unreliable source of data.

There are 2 parts to a death certificate

Part 1: Lists the chain of events leading up to the patient’s death. The causes of death are entered sequentially, starting with the immediate cause and ending with the underlying cause

Part 2: Lists chronic health conditions

Let’s say a health 21 y.o. died from COVID, then the death certificate would look something like:

A. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (immediate)
B Pneumonia ( 10 days)
C. COVID 19 (days)

This death certificate for Stanley Emerson Turner II who died after testing positive for COVID-19 is NOT filled out properly.

The death certificate says Cardiac Arrest due to Pneumonia...BUT what caused the PNA? It should have COVID-19 in C. https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/2020/04/19/coronavirus-vanderburgh-case-shows-recording-cause-death-poses-challenges/5157500002/

The doctor said he tried to enter COVID-19 as a cause of Turner's death, but the computer system he was working in wouldn't accept that.

This death certificate of a jail worker that died from COVID should be reversed because the immediate cause of death is acute hypoxic respiratory failure.

More specifically, acute hypoxic respiratory failure from PNEUMONIA or PULMONARY EMBOLISM due to COVID-19.

PNEUMONIA is often a NONSPECIFIC process that occurs as the terminal event in someone who dies of a more SPECIFIC underlying cause of death.

The specific bacteria, virus, fungi or other infectious agent, if known, should be cited in the cause-of-death statement.

Since COVID19, we've seen very FEW bacterial pneumonias, but if a person with lung cancer died from a bacterial pneumonia then the death certificate would read something like this. I would also add Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure as the immediate cause of death.

What if the patient died but never obtained a COVID test? Use clinical judgement. If the patient is hypoxic and febrile then they likely died from COVID. The virus presents in a particular way. In this case you would document it as "probable" or "suspected" COVID19

In conclusion, if 6% of death certificates ONLY had COVID-19 mentioned THEN the death certificate was filled out INCORRECTLY. In general death certificates are an unreliable source of data, because of variability in completion. The end.