Medical certificate of cause of death: Looking for an European single standard

Abstract

The European Union share many laws, and medical certification of cause of death standards should be probably one of them. In an analysis of medical certificates of cause of death (MCCD) from 27 countries that form or formed part of the European Union, there was considerable variability of their content.Ways to improve and harmonize the current datasets are suggested, based on what is done in different European nations, and that could be adopted elsewhere, sharing good practice. It is also suggested the need to allow the cause of death to be, at least partially, available to relatives, to help with the bereavement process and any required proceedings (which could be different to the country of issue of the certification).This common approach could reduce the risk of errors among clinicians working across different nations; it could improve information flow when decedents are transferred among distinct countries and their forms are processed; and eventually, it could help when mortality data is used to compare states.