A case study on medical examiner scrutiny of death certificates found that in 78 per cent cases the underlying cause of death remained unchanged
The broad underlying cause of death (as defined by International Classification of Diseases chapter) changed after medical examiner scrutiny in 12 per cent of cases
In the remaining 10 per cent of cases the underlying cause changed but remained in the same International Classification of Disease chapter
Following scrutiny by the medical examiner, there were 1 per cent more death certificates with an underlying cause of cancer (neoplasm), and an increase of 6 per cent in the proportion that were attributed to diseases of the circulatory system
The percentage of deaths attributed to a respiratory disease underlying cause decreased by 7 per cent after medical examiner scrutiny
In general, more conditions were mentioned on the death certificate as a result of scrutiny by medical examiners
