Public Act 93-0454

SB376 Enrolled                       LRB093 03750 LCB 03784 b

    AN ACT in relation to public health.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section  5.  The Vital Records Act is amended by changing
Section 18 as follows:

    (410 ILCS 535/18) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-18)
    Sec. 18.  (1) Each death which occurs in this State shall
be registered by filing a death certificate  with  the  local
registrar  of the district in which the death occurred or the
body was found, within 7 days after such death (within 5 days
if the death occurs prior to January 1, 1989)  and  prior  to
cremation  or removal of the body from the State, except when
death is subject to investigation by the coroner  or  medical
examiner.
    (a)  For  the  purposes  of this Section, if the place of
death is unknown, a death certificate shall be filed  in  the
registration  district  in  which a dead body is found, which
shall be considered the place of death.
    (b)  When a death occurs  on  a  moving  conveyance,  the
place  where  the  body  is first removed from the conveyance
shall  be  considered  the  place  of  death  and   a   death
certificate  shall  be  filed in the registration district in
which such place is located.
    (c)  The funeral director who first assumes custody of  a
dead  body  shall be responsible for filing a completed death
certificate.  He shall obtain the personal data from the next
of kin or the best qualified person or source  available;  he
shall  enter  on  the certificate the name, relationship, and
address of his informant; he shall enter the date, place, and
method of final disposition; he shall affix his own signature
and enter his address; and shall present the  certificate  to
the   person   responsible   for   completing   the   medical
certification of cause of death.
    (2)  The  medical  certification  shall  be completed and
signed within 48 hours after death by the physician in charge
of the patient's care for  the  illness  or  condition  which
resulted  in  death,  except  when  death  is  subject to the
coroner's  or  medical  examiner's  investigation.   In   the
absence  of  the  physician or with his approval, the medical
certificate may be completed  and  signed  by  his  associate
physician,  the  chief  medical officer of the institution in
which death occurred or by the  physician  who  performed  an
autopsy upon the decedent.
    (3)  When  a  death occurs without medical attendance, or
when it is otherwise subject  to  the  coroner's  or  medical
examiner's  investigation,  the  coroner  or medical examiner
shall be responsible for the completion  of  a  coroner's  or
medical  examiner's  certificate  of death and shall sign the
medical certification within 48 hours after death, except  as
provided by regulation in special problem cases.
    (3.5)  The  medical certification of cause of death shall
expressly provide an opportunity for  the  person  completing
the  certification  to  indicate that the death was caused in
whole or in part by a dementia-related  disease,  Parkinson's
Disease, or Parkinson-Dementia Complex.
    (4)  When  the  deceased  was a veteran of any war of the
United  States,  the  funeral  director   shall   prepare   a
"Certificate  of  Burial of U. S. War Veteran", as prescribed
and furnished by the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs,
and submit such certificate to  the  Illinois  Department  of
Veterans Affairs monthly.
    (5)  When  a  death  is presumed to have occurred in this
State but the body cannot be located, a death certificate may
be prepared by the State Registrar upon receipt of  an  order
of  a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction  which includes the
finding of facts required to complete the death  certificate.
Such  death  certificate  shall  be  marked "Presumptive" and
shall show on its face the date of the registration and shall
identify the court and the date of the judgment.
(Source: P.A. 85-1209.)

    Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
becoming law.