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i think this article is worth a read as the waters are further muddied, as we try to deal with our grief over 2009.
What, Exactly, Are "Natural Causes"?And can they really explain Brittany Murphy's death from cardiac arrest at the age of 32?
By Brian PalmerPosted Monday, Dec. 21, 2009, at 7:01 PM ET
Brittany MurphyActress Brittany Murphy, famous for her roles in Clueless and 8 Mile, died Sunday of sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 32. The L.A. County Assistant Chief Coroner has stated that the death "appears to be natural." What does it mean to die of natural causes?
For a coroner, any death caused by disease or old age is natural. When someone dies a violent or suspicious death, medical examiners try to determine both a "cause" and a "manner." The cause refers to the biological condition that killed the victim—in Murphy's case, sudden cardiac arrest. The manner describes all the other circumstances that led up to that particular cause. Most states recognize five different manners: homicide, suicide, accident, natural, and undetermined. If a manner of death is deemed to be "natural," then the victim is thought to have died of an internal disease process or normal deterioration of the body. Outside forces, like chemicals or human intervention, had only a minimal influence. (There are some gray areas: Death by infectious disease is typically categorized as being natural, even though the killer microbes come from outside the body.)
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In general, it's much easier to determine the cause of death than the manner. To say that Murphy died of sudden cardiac arrest means only that her heart stopped beating unexpectedly, a fact that might be explained by any of the five manner classifications. Her death might have resulted from "natural" conditions like an enlarged heart, thickened ventrical walls, disruptions in the heart's electrical signals, or clogged arteries—not unknown among 32-year-olds, especially if they have diabetes. Or it might have followed from the ingestion of drugs (like cocaine) or poisons—making it a homicide, a suicide, or an accident. (A massive blow to the chest can stop the heart, too, but that would have left obvious signs.) Drug deaths can be tough to categorize, because circumstantial evidence is required to separate accidental overdoses from suicides.
When all the tests are back from the lab, the medical examiner or the coroner—typically an elected official without medical training who consults the medical examiner—prepares the death certificate with the cause, manner, and a brief description. There is some variation in the forms. John Lennon's death certificate, for example, contains a series of causes to indicate the cascading physical effects of his gunshot wound.
What, Exactly, Are "Natural Causes"?And can they really explain Brittany Murphy's death from cardiac arrest at the age of 32?
By Brian PalmerPosted Monday, Dec. 21, 2009, at 7:01 PM ET
For a coroner, any death caused by disease or old age is natural. When someone dies a violent or suspicious death, medical examiners try to determine both a "cause" and a "manner." The cause refers to the biological condition that killed the victim—in Murphy's case, sudden cardiac arrest. The manner describes all the other circumstances that led up to that particular cause. Most states recognize five different manners: homicide, suicide, accident, natural, and undetermined. If a manner of death is deemed to be "natural," then the victim is thought to have died of an internal disease process or normal deterioration of the body. Outside forces, like chemicals or human intervention, had only a minimal influence. (There are some gray areas: Death by infectious disease is typically categorized as being natural, even though the killer microbes come from outside the body.)
PRINTDISCUSSE-MAILRSSRECOMMEND...SINGLE PAGEplaceAd2(commercialNode,'tooltile',false,'')slate:{$rootpath}id/2239356/Yahoo! Buzz
FacebookMySpace Mixx Digg Reddit del.icio.us Furl Ma.gnolia SphereStumbleUponCLOSEIn general, it's much easier to determine the cause of death than the manner. To say that Murphy died of sudden cardiac arrest means only that her heart stopped beating unexpectedly, a fact that might be explained by any of the five manner classifications. Her death might have resulted from "natural" conditions like an enlarged heart, thickened ventrical walls, disruptions in the heart's electrical signals, or clogged arteries—not unknown among 32-year-olds, especially if they have diabetes. Or it might have followed from the ingestion of drugs (like cocaine) or poisons—making it a homicide, a suicide, or an accident. (A massive blow to the chest can stop the heart, too, but that would have left obvious signs.) Drug deaths can be tough to categorize, because circumstantial evidence is required to separate accidental overdoses from suicides.
When all the tests are back from the lab, the medical examiner or the coroner—typically an elected official without medical training who consults the medical examiner—prepares the death certificate with the cause, manner, and a brief description. There is some variation in the forms. John Lennon's death certificate, for example, contains a series of causes to indicate the cascading physical effects of his gunshot wound.