§338-9  Filing and preparation of death andfetal death certificates.  (a)  The person in charge of the disposition ofthe body shall file with the department of health in Honolulu or with the localagent of the department of health in the district in which the death or fetaldeath occurred, or a dead body was found, a certificate of death or fetal deathwithin three days after the occurrence, except that reports of intentionalterminations of pregnancy performed in accordance with section 453-16 may be deferredfor up to one month.

(b)  In preparing a certificate of death orfetal death the person in charge of the disposition of the body shall:

(1)  Obtain and enter on the certificate the personaldata and other information pertaining to the deceased person required by thedepartment from the person best qualified to supply them;

(2)  Present the certificate of death to the physicianlast in attendance upon the deceased, or to the coroner’s physician, who shallthereupon certify the cause of death to the physician’s best knowledge andbelief, or present the certificate of fetal death to the physician, midwife, orother person in attendance at the fetal death, who shall certify the fetaldeath and such medical data pertaining thereto as can be furnished; providedthat fetal deaths of less than twenty-four weeks or intentional terminations ofpregnancy performed in accordance with section 453-16 may be certified by anurse or other employee based upon the physician’s records; and

(3)  Notify immediately the appropriate local agent,if the death occurred without medical attendance, or if the physician last inattendance fails to sign the death certificate.  In such event the local agentshall inform the local health officer, and refer the case to the local healthofficer for immediate investigation and certification of the cause of deathprior to issuing a permit for burial, or other disposition of the body.  Whenthe local health officer is not a physician or when there is no such officer,the local agent may complete the certificate on the basis of informationreceived from relatives of the deceased or others having knowledge of thefacts.

If the circumstances of the case suggest thatthe death or fetal death was caused by other than natural causes, the local agentshall refer the case to the coroner for investigation and certification.

(c)  A death certificate may be filed by thenext of kin and accepted by the local agent without meeting the requirementsset forth above when there has been a judicial finding and declaration by acourt of record that a person is dead; provided that the certificate is in aform approved by the department and has been certified by the clerk of court.[L 1949, c 327, §13; am L 1951, c 92, §3; RL 1955, §57-12; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1,§19; am L 1965, c 113, §1; HRS §338-9; am L 1973, c 17, §6; am L 1975, c 74,§1; am L 1978, c 86, §1; am L 1981, c 113, §3]