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

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]