SECTION .0500 ‑ MEDICAL EXAMINER'S INVESTIGATION

10A NCAC 44 .0501         INVESTIGATION BEFORE CREMATION OR BURIAL AT SEA

(a)  Before a dead body may be cremated or buried at sea, a medical examiner must certify that the medical examiner has investigated the cause and manner of death and determined that no further examination is necessary. Such certification is not required if the death falls under one of the exceptions in G.S. 130A‑388 or under one of the following exceptions:

(1)           a death that is medically attended, is determined to result from natural disease, and occurs in a nursing home or while under the care of a licensed hospice; or

(2)           a body that is donated to the Commission of Anatomy or to any of the schools of medicine in accordance with G.S. 130A‑402 et seq.

(b)  When a medical examiner makes a certification pursuant to this Rule, the person requesting the certification shall pay a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) to the medical examiner. However, no fee shall be charged for the investigation of a death that comes within the jurisdiction of the Chief Medical Examiner pursuant to G.S. 130A-383 or G.S. 130A-384. For the purposes of this Section, deaths in association with medically unattended deliveries, or delivery by a midwife who is approved pursuant to G.S. 90-178.1 et seq., are considered to fall within the jurisdiction of the Chief Medical Examiner pursuant to G.S. 130A-383 and G.S. 130A-384.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 130A‑388; 130A‑393;

Eff. July 1, 1979;

Amended Eff. October 1, 1989; October 1, 1986; October 1, 1984; January 1, 1984;

Transferred and Recodified from 10 NCAC 11 .0705 Eff. April 4, 1990;

Amended Eff. August 1, 2000;

Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without substantive public interest Eff. December 23, 2017.