Death certificate; APRNs and physician assistants may sign instead of physician in certain circumstances.
Summary
House Bill 37 amends Mississippi law to allow advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and physician assistants to certify a person’s cause of death and sign the death certificate, but only when they were the primary clinician responsible for the decedent’s care before death. Under current practice, this authority is generally reserved to a physician; the bill creates a limited exception for non-physician clinicians who were most directly involved in the patient’s treatment.
The bill is narrowly focused on death certificate completion and does not change who may determine the legal cause of death in all circumstances beyond the specified certification authority. It takes effect July 1, 2025, and would apply to death records completed on or after that date. The measure is framed as a practical administrative change for end-of-life care settings where APRNs or physician assistants may be the clinician most familiar with the patient’s condition.
Impact
HB37 would update Mississippi’s vital records and death certification procedures by expanding the list of professionals authorized to sign death certificates in limited cases. It affects APRNs, physician assistants, physicians, and the state agencies and local officials responsible for processing death records, while potentially reducing delays when the attending physician is unavailable or not the primary caregiver. The bill does not appear to alter broader medical licensing or scope-of-practice laws beyond this certification function.
Sentiment
The available voting history shows strong support for the bill: the House passed HB37 unanimously, 119-0. No committee transcript is available, and there is no recorded opposition in the provided materials. The vote suggests the measure was viewed as a straightforward administrative fix with little controversy.
Contention
No specific points of contention are reflected in the provided record. If any concerns existed, they likely would have centered on whether non-physician clinicians should be allowed to certify cause of death and whether that authority should be limited to cases where they were the primary caregiver. However, the unanimous House vote indicates those issues did not generate visible opposition in the chamber.