(a)An amending certificate (medical amendment) may be filed with the appropriate local registrar or state registrar electronically through a Bureau of Vital Statistics electronic death registration system to complete or correct medical certification information on a certificate of death that is incomplete or inaccurate. The medical amendment must be in a format [on Form VS-174] as prescribed by the department. (b)A certificate described in subsection (a) of this section shall only be filed upon completion by the individual responsible for the certification of the original death certificate. If the original was certified [signed] by a physician, and a justice of the peace (JP) or medical examiner's office (ME) has subsequently conducted an inquest as authorized by the Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 49, the medical amendment may be filed by the JP or ME that conducted the inquest. (c)The [local] registrar shall carefully examine each medical amendment when presented for registration to determine if it is complete as required by the state registrar's instructions. (d)If the medical amendment is incomplete or unsatisfactory, the [local] registrar shall call attention to the error and/or omission in the return. (e)The [local] registrar shall number the medical amendment with the same file number assigned to the original death certificate. The local registrar shall sign each medical amendment to attest to the date the amendment is filed in the local registrar's office. The signature may be either electronic, handwritten or a facsimile stamp, [ and must be written or stamped with permanent black or blue ink]. The medical amendment shall be attached to and become a part of the legal record of the death if the amendment is accepted for filing. (f)The [local] registrar shall duplicate [ make a photographic duplication of] the medical amendment as authorized by the Local Government Code, Chapters 201 or 204. The duplicate [ copy] shall be permanently preserved in the local registrar's office as the local record, in the manner directed by the state registrar. (g)The [local] registrar shall forward all [the] original non-electronic, [properly filed] medical amendments [amendment] to the state registrar within 10 days of filing.
This agency hereby certifies that
the proposal has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed
with the Office of the Secretary of State on March 15, 2004
TRD-200401936 Susan K. Steeg
General Counsel
Texas Department of Health
Earliest possible date of adoption: April 25, 2004
For further information, please call: (512) 458-7236
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