End of Life Choice Act 2019
Assisted Dying: recording the cause of death
Ministry of Health guideline for completing Medical Certificate of Causes of Death:
3. Assisted Dying
For a death that was assisted under the End of Life Choice Act 2019 please follow these guidelines when completing the Cause of death section of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (HP4720 form)
Select the ‘Assisted Dying’ checkbox, if completing the form online in Death Documents. This will populate Part 1(a) of the certificate with the words ‘Assisted Dying’ as the Direct cause of death. If the death is certified on a paper HP4720 form then write ‘Assisted Dying’ in Part 1(a) of the certificate.
Enter any conditions arising from the underlying cause that contributed to the terminal nature of the condition as Antecedent cause(s) in Part 1(b)
Enter the terminal condition(s) for which the deceased was eligible to receive an assisted death as the Underlying cause in Part 1(c)
Enter the interval between the onset of the cause of death, and death, for each condition
Any conditions that contributed to the patient’s decline can be entered in Cause of death Part 2
Note: Do not enter any details of the method or medication used to assist death on the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death. Those details will be entered in a separate Assisted Dying Death Report. It is under the Assisted Dying tab in Death Documents. If you have questions about the Death Report or completing an MCCD for assisted dying, you can contact AssistedDying@health.govt.nz
Thus the format would be:
1A) "Assisted dying"
1B) Conditions that contributed to the terminal nature of the condition.
1C) The terminal condition that entitled the deceased to receive an assisted death.