Cause of Death and the Death Certificate is intended for any person who must prepare, review, or interpret cause-of-death statements appearing on death certificates or other medical documents, such as autopsy reports. It is a comprehensive manual derived mainly from previous publications from the College of American Pathologists, including The Medical Cause of Death Manual (1994) and Cause of Death Statements and Certification of Natural and Unnatural Deaths: Protocol and Options (1997). This book contains updated information and has been broadened in content to provide information not only useful to physicians, medical examiners, and coroners, but to the public as well.

Cause of Death and the Death Certificate includes:

A summary of basic principles.
Protocol for writing cause-of-death statements for natural causes in general.
In-depth discussions of death certification principles for commonly encountered deaths: the elderly; dementia and psychiatric illness; injury events, trauma, and fatal derangements; periprocedural complications; neonates and infants, including SIDS and sudden unexplained infant deaths; HIV infection; and combinations of injury and disease.
Examples of specific types of deaths that pose dilemmas or involve special considerations in regard to completing the cause-of-death statement.
A Guide for Manner of Death Classification, prepared by the National Association of Medical Examiners (2002).
Current issues, glossary, and recommended reading.