When delivering a body for an examination, the transporter should call (989) 341 – 5077. If you are removing a body, you must provide us with an Authorization for Release Form.
Death Certificates
If our office is completing the medical portion of a death certificate, we will fax or email you a completed and signed Medical Certificate of Death (MCOD) for you to use in the Electronic Death Registry System for the State of Michigan (EDRS) a document that you initiate and refer to the Michigan Institue of Forensic Science & Medicine Medical Examiner or one of our office staff. With the appropriate information present, a completed or ‘Pending’ death certificate is normally available within 24-48 hours. Completed death certificates may be delayed due to necessity for autopsy, toxicology, or other test results to be completed.
Cremation Permit Authorizations
To obtain authorization for a cremation permit, please follow these instructions:
- Ensure that a death certificate signed by a physician is included with the cremation permit. Currently, mid-level providers cannot sign death certifications in Michigan.
- If our office is signing the death certificate, please indicate this on the cremation permit.
- A MANNER of death is required (box 39). Only our office can assign a manner of death OTHER than NATURAL. If this is missing, please contact the signing physician for associated manner of death. If listed as anything other than NATURAL, please notify our office for possible investigation.
- Please ensure decedent name, date of birth and date of death are identical on both the cremation permit and death certificate.
- If unable to access EDRS or it is down, a fax cremation permits and accompanying death certificate to (989) 341 – 5077 or email the cremation permit and accompanying death certificate as an attachment to cremationpermits@mifsm.org.
- Cremation permits will be reviewed by our office Monday-Friday, twice daily.
- Cremation permit requests received by 2PM will be reviewed and returned before 4PM.
- Most cremation permits are authorized by our office following review. These will be avaialabe to you on EDRS; they will be faxed if EDRS is down.
- If the cremation permit requires additional investigation, you will be notified at the time the cremation permits are being returned.
- Please note that ALL stillbirth cremation permits require a brief investigation by our office. In order to do this, we require the mother”s name, mother”s date of birth and where the stillbirth occurred (hospital name). This is necessary for accessing medical information. Expect up to a 48-hour delay on all stillbirth cremation permits. In order to assist with the investigation, please fill out and submit the Stillbirth Investigation Form with the cremation permit.
Avoiding Delays in Cremation Permit Authorizations
You can help avoid delays in cremation permit authorizations by contacting our office immediately if, when reviewing the death certificate, it has not been reported to our office and you notice a cause or contributory factor, including:
- Broken bone/fracture
- A fall or accident
- Subdural hematoma
- Subdural hemorrhage
- Medication overdose or toxicity
- Asphyxia/anoxia/respiratory failure/ cardiac arrest WITHOUT another associated diagnosis; these diagnoses are unacceptable to the State of Michigan
- Asphyxia or anoxic encephalopathy due to stroke or myocardial infarct is acceptable
- Asphyxia or Anoxic Encephalopathy or Respiratory Failure or Cardiac Arrest without an underlying cause will not be accepted by the State of Michigan
- There are other diagnoses that may cause delay, but the list above covers most situations that trigger an additional investigation and a delay in authorization of the cremation by our office. If you are notified that the cremation permit request has triggered an investigation, expect up to a 48-hour delay in authorization. In these situations, we typically request medical records and potentially reach out to family and the signing physician. We then wait for the physician’s office or the hospital to produce the records. After they send them to us, we review and determine whether an examination of the body is required. If the additional investigation requires more than 48 hours, you will be notified, however, this should be a very unusual situation.
If you requested a cremation permit Monday-Friday before 2 PM and you do not hear from our office by 4:00 PM, please call the main office at (989)341-5077.
For additional questions or concerns regarding cremation permits, please contact the office at (989)341-5077. The fee from all cremation permit is $63.