PUBLIC Law Chapter 74

	2. Medical certificate by physician. The medical
certification of the cause of death must be completed in
typewritten or ~~handwritten block~~ legibly hand-printed style and
signed in a timely fashion by a physician authorized to practice
in the State who has knowledge of the patient's recent medical
condition, in accordance with department regulations and other
laws detailing who can certify and in what time frame, except
when the death falls under the jurisdiction of the medical
examiner as provided in section 3025. If the patient was a
resident of a nursing home licensed under section 1817 at the
time of death and if the physician in charge of the patient's
care or another physician designated by the physician in charge
had not examined the patient within 48 hours prior to death, or
within 2 weeks prior to death in the case of a terminally ill
patient, the physician in charge or another physician designated
by the physician in charge shall examine the body prior to
completing the certification of death process. Any physician who
fails to complete the medical certification of the cause of death
fully, in typewritten or ~~handwritten block~~ legibly hand-printed
style and in a timely manner, or who fails to examine the body of
a nursing home resident prior to certifying cause of death as
required by this section must be reported to the Board of
Licensure in Medicine or the Board of Osteopathic Licensure,
whichever is appropriate, by the State Registrar of Vital
Statistics of the Department of Human Services.

For the purposes of this subsection, the following terms have the
following meanings.

A. "Life-sustaining procedure" means any medical procedure
or intervention that, when administered to a qualified
patient, will serve only to prolong the dying process and
does not include nutrition and hydration.

B. "Terminally ill patient" means a patient who has been
diagnosed as having an incurable or irreversible condition
that, without the administration of life-sustaining
procedures, will, in the opinion of the attending physician,
result in death within a short time.

Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §2842, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2001, c. 574, §27, is
further amended to read:

3. Medical certificate by medical examiner. When a death
occurs under circumstances that make it a medical examiner case
as defined in section 3025, or when inquiry as to the cause of
death is required by law, the medical examiner shall complete in
typewritten or ~~handwritten block~~ legibly hand-printed style the
medical certification of the cause of death and sign the death

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