Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 19a - Public Health and Well-being › 41 - Birth Certificates: Filing Requirements and Access › Amendments and Corrections to Vital Records › Section 19a-41-10 - Death records: Amending cause-of-death information

Current through July 10, 2024
(a) When existing language on a standard
				death certificate (VS-4) requires amendment due to a change in the original
				cause-of-death diagnosis, the practitioner who provided the original medical
				certification shall submit a letter to the local registrar of the town where
				the death occurred, indicating the correct cause of death. The letter shall be
				written on the practitioner's professional stationery and signed and dated by
				such practitioner. In the absence or inability of the certifying practitioner
				or with such practitioner's approval, the cause of death may be amended upon
				receipt of a signed statement, on the hospital's or practitioner's professional
				stationery, from an associate practitioner approved to certify the cause of
				death in accordance with section
				7-62b(c)
				of the Connecticut General Statutes, or the chief medical officer of the
				institution in which the death occurred provided such individual has access to
				the medical history of the case. The state or local registrar may require
				documentary evidence to substantiate the requested amendment. The Office of the
				Chief Medical Examiner may also correct the cause-of-death information on a
				standard death certificate by issuing to the local registrar of the town where
				the death occurred, a Medical Examiner death certificate (VS-4 ME) listing the
				correct cause-of-death, along with a letter instructing the registrar to
				replace the standard death certificate with the Medical Examiner death
				certificate containing the correct medical diagnosis.
Upon receipt of proper documentation, the local registrar of
				  the town where the death occurred shall amend the original death certificate by
				  drawing a single line through the original cause-of-death information, and
				  typing the correct medical diagnosis, or by entering the corrected data in an
				  electronic death registry system if such system is available to the local
				  registrar. The local registrar shall record the word "Amended" on the face of
				  the original death certificate, along with a description of the item that was
				  amended, and the date of the amendment. If a private practitioner initiates the
				  amendment, the local registrar shall create a new death certificate by typing
				  all the information from the original death certificate onto a blank standard
				  death certificate, or by entering the data into the electronic death registry
				  system, except that the corrected cause-of-death information shall be
				  substituted for the original cause-of-death information. If the amendment is
				  initiated by the medical examiner, the local registrar shall complete the
				  Medical Examiner death certificate received from the Office of the Chief
				  Medical Examiner listing the new cause of death, by entering all other
				  information as stated on the original standard death certificate. All dates are
				  to remain the same as on the original death certificate, except that the
				  "Certificate Received for Record" date shall reflect the new receipt date. The
				  new death certificate shall contain the signatures of the practitioner or
				  medical examiner, and the funeral director who signed the original death
				  certificate. If the registrar cannot obtain the signature of the practitioner,
				  medical examiner or funeral director the registrar shall insert the name of the
				  practitioner, medical examiner, or funeral director in the appropriate spaces.
				  The registrar shall not mark the new certificate "Amended."
The local registrar shall send either by mail or
				  electronically, an authenticated copy of the new certificate to the Department
				  and to the local registrar of the decedent's town of residence at the time of
				  death, along with a letter explaining that the certificate being sent is a
				  replacement certificate for the original death certificate already on file. If
				  the death certificate is a paper certificate, the registrar shall send the
				  original death certificate and the documentation requesting and supporting the
				  change to the Department for placement in a confidential file. Only the
				  commissioner may order the confidential record unsealed. Upon receipt of the
				  amended death certificate, the Department and the local registrar of the town
				  of residence shall replace the original death certificate with the new death
				  certificate. When a certified copy of the death certificate is requested, the
				  registrar or the Department shall issue a certified copy of the new death
				  certificate.
(b) Amendments
				to cause-of-death information on a Medical Examiner death certificate (VS-4ME)
				shall be changed only upon the request of the Chief Medical Examiner's Office.
				To amend a cause of death listed as "Pending," the Chief Medical Examiner's
				Office shall submit a Correction Form (VS-35) to the local registrar of the
				town where the death occurred, indicating the actual cause-of-death diagnosis.
Upon receipt of a Correction Form, the local registrar shall
				  enter the new information in the electronic death registry system if available,
				  or in the case of paper death certificates, type or draw a line through the
				  word, "Pending", and insert the cause-of-death information and any additional
				  information into the appropriate boxes as listed on the Correction Form. The
				  registrar shall place the word "Amended" on the face of the original death
				  certificate, along with the item number that was amended, the date of the
				  amendment, and the phrase 'per Medical Examiner.' Not later than ten days after
				  the registrar amends the original death certificate, the local registrar shall
				  send either through mail or electronically, an authenticated copy of the
				  amended death certificate to the Department. If the copy is in paper format,
				  the registrar shall send the authenticated copy separately from the regular
				  monthly batch of vital records sent to the Department. The local registrar
				  shall also send either through mail or electronically, an authenticated copy of
				  the amended death certificate to the decedent's town of residence at the time
				  of death. The Correction Form shall be kept on file at the town of
				  occurrence.