AIBU to question why they put "Died of old age" on Prince Philip's death certificate?

[SolarLightxoxo]

I mean everyone dies of something surely? It's not like you come to a certain age and you just drop dead.

He died of complications related to his very advanced age. My grandmother died at 94, her death certificate says similar. In order to pinpoint a specific cause, I think an autopsy would be required. I'm sure no one wanted that.

@SolarLightxoxo went have you ignored @Jagzorx a GP)s post which confirms that it's absolutely normal and ok to put a death down to old age, and explained the criteria for it, but quoted and thanked a later poster who mysteriously "works in this field" who agrees with you.

Stop cherry picking posts.

Christ almighty. He was 99!

No one is immortal, the body gives up once it gets too old to go on.

@wdmtthgcock

At what age would a sudden unexpected death not require a post mortem? If a 95 year old drops down dead or dies in their sleep would the death be put down to old age or does there have to be an autopsy? Is there still that rule that a post mortem has to be carried out if the person has not been seen by a doctor within a certain number of days before their death?

Yes what is counted as old age?

Went= why

@Oyvavoy, if you work in the area, how could you get the facts so wrong? @Jagzorx is a GP and I also work for a GP practice processing death certs and I see “frailty of old age” stated on them all the time.

It's not like you come to a certain age and you just drop dead.

Erm...

No one dies of old age - something will always fail and be the cause. However, when you are in your 90’s they don’t often find out exactly what it was that failed. Failing organs at that point is to be expected sadly so it’s called dying of old age as without a port mortem they can’t pin it down

Given he had just spent a well publicised period in hospital writing 'Old Age' is unusual especially as he was well known to his medical team who must have known all his co-morbidities.

Writing 'Old Age' is totally reasonable for a 99 yr old if you can't think of anything else but I can't help feeling that the real reason it has been written is privacy.

Which is something none of the rest of us get.

Yes what is counted as old age?

Where I live (Ohio), an autopsy is automatically completed on anyone under age 75, unless there were known circumstances like cancer or a car accident. They might still do one on someone over 75, though, depending on the circumstances of the death.

It's not like you come to a certain age and you just drop dead

This is exactly what happens to many people.

@HoppingPavlova

It's not like you come to a certain age and you just drop dead

This is exactly what happens to many people.

Glad I don't know my expiry date in advance!

@SolarLightxoxo

I am wondering if it is just not cost effective or beneficial to do autopsies for every death. Obviously most deaths are not suspicious, so it makes sense not to do them routinely for very elderly people as death is not an unusual event for this age group.

In what way would it ever be beneficial?

Unless there's a suggestion of some form of criminal activity why does it matter. If the death meets the criteria someone posted above what could possibly be gained by unnecessary post mortems.

Why would anyone think that would be a good idea?

Been doing a little reading about this as I was surprised and this is interesting

link.springer.com/article/10.14283/jfa.2020.2#:~:text=As%20examples%2C%20in%20ICD%20%E2%80%94%2010,(XT9T)%20(4).

@SolarLightxoxo

I am wondering if it is just not cost effective or beneficial to do autopsies for every death. Obviously most deaths are not suspicious, so it makes sense not to do them routinely for very elderly people as death is not an unusual event for this age group.

They dont always though - I thought if over a certain age and had seen a doctor or in hospital they didnt need to.

My Grandad did because he was 85 but hadnt seen a doctor in the past year so they had to (he literally just dropped down dead with a heart attack)

it is interesting but i think in some cases understandable.

DF died at 101. He wasn’t ill, his body just shut down gently. Why on earth would an autopsy be performed, at great cost, when there were no suspicious circumstances? He went into a nursing home for the last few weeks of his life as he weakened, as DM couldn't manage his care, and had been seen by the doctor on his rounds.

YABU.

This is not a new thing on death certs

He was very lucky to get to that age without a disease contributing to his death.

@OlympicProcrastinator

It's not like you come to a certain age and you just drop dead

Errrm yes you do! If you make it to a certain age without any disease or illness your heart will eventually simply slow done then stop altogether. That’s ‘dying of old age’.

🤦‍♀️ That’s normal death! That’s the death we all aspire to! Death by old age is the dream... rather than by an illness, disease or accident that takes us prematurely.

I remember reading somewhere once that the most common cause of death is old age.

@SolarLightxoxo

I am wondering if it is just not cost effective or beneficial to do autopsies for every death. Obviously most deaths are not suspicious, so it makes sense not to do them routinely for very elderly people as death is not an unusual event for this age group.

Of course not

Also utterly pointless. They are only done in cases where they don’t know the cause of death to be able certify it (notwithstanding things like murders etc).

Most deaths don’t require a post mortem in the UK. It’s not routine.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/post-mortem/

@AnnaMagnani

Given he had just spent a well publicised period in hospital writing 'Old Age' is unusual especially as he was well known to his medical team who must have known all his co-morbidities.

Writing 'Old Age' is totally reasonable for a 99 yr old if you can't think of anything else but I can't help feeling that the real reason it has been written is privacy.

Which is something none of the rest of us get.

We get a hell of a lot more privacy than the royals. That is the single advantage we do have over them.

@Phillipa12

My mum died of old age. She needed a post mortem to ascertain death as she literally dropped down dead, his conclusion was old age as he could find nothing had gone medically wrong with her, she was 68.

I'm a bit shocked by that as I'm 66! I'm very sorry that you lost your Mum at such a relatively young age.

RosaLuxemb0urg sadly no its not. Hospital thought cardiac arrest but as she died outside a medical establishment the coroner requested a post mortem. They discovered no medical reason for her death other than her organs had aged. My mum had just come to the end of her life naturally.