Notification of Medical Examiner

Autopsy & Fetal Losses

The attending physician has a legal obligation to notify a death to the Medical Examiner for deaths that occur under any of the following circumstances:

• Deaths that occur unexplainably.
• Deaths that occur unexpectedly when the deceased was in apparent good health
• Deaths that occur as the result of violence, accident or suicide
• Maternal deaths during or following pregnancy and that might reasonably be related to pregnancy
• Deaths that may have occurred as a result of improper or negligent treatment by any person
• Death that occur:
  • During an operative procedure
  • Within 10 days of an operative procedure
  • While under anesthesia
  • Any time after anesthesia and that may reasonably be attributed to that anesthesia
• Deaths that result from poisoning
• Deaths that occur while the deceased person was not under the care of a physician
• Deaths that occur while the deceased person was in the custody of a peace officer, or as a result of the use of force by a peace officer while on duty
• Deaths that are due to
  • Any disease of ill-health contracted or incurred by the deceased
  • Any injury sustained by the deceased
  • Any toxic substance introduced into the deceased
  • As a direct result of the deceased's employment or occupation or in the course of one or more of the deceased's former employments or occupations
• If a person:
  • Dies in custody e.g. in jail, correctional facility or in the custody of a peace officer
  • Dies as a formal patient in any facility under the Mental Health Act whether the deceased is on or off the premises at the time of death.
• Death of any child under the guardianship or custody of a director under the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act.

A death is notifiable, however remote it might be in time or place, from an incident that could have been the contributing factor leading to that death.

REFERENCE
 Alberta Fatalities Inquiry Act