An investigation of the coronial jurisdictions of Australia for the relationship between the cause of death provided on a post-mortem examination report and the corresponding coronial finding when the cause of death was determined, indeterminate and undetermined

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigated the relationship between the cause of death stated on a post-mortem (medical) examination report and the subsequent cause of death given in a finding by a legal or judicial coroner (non-medical). A review of causes of death provided by forensic pathologists in their reports found the majority of cases (89%) were given in the traditional death certificate format, but were transformed to a sentence format in just over two thirds of coronial findings (68.5%). There was no evidence that converting the format of the cause of death statements caused a delay in finalizing the case. Of note, the post-mortem examination report provided an indefinite cause of death in 3.8% of cases and around a quarter (25.3%) of these were converted to a definite cause of death in the coronial finding (for example, by removing the word ‘probable’). Where the post-mortem examination did not determine a cause of death (5.2% of cases), most remained undetermined in the coronial finding. It is suggested that pathologists could work with coroners to ensure the cause of death provided on post-mortem examination reports are in the preferred style for their jurisdiction.