Who Can Legally Declare You Dead in New York State?

I recently read a news article that shared info about a woman who was living in a nursing home. The nursing home thought that she had died, so they had a funeral home come and pick her up to get ready for her final services.

When the mortician opened up the body bag, the woman took a deep breath, and showed the mortician, although she was not conscious at the time, she was indeed alive.

The woman was returned to a medical facility, where she sadly passed away a few days later. Keep reading:

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Is it really possible that a person could be misdiagnosed as dead?

The above-mentioned article was one that was based in Iowa. In that state, a physician's assistant, nurses, nurse practitioners, and doctors can legally declare death. In that case, it had been a nurse practitioner who had made the declaration.

Who can legally make a declaration of death in New York State?

According to New York State PDF, it is a physician who has to make the 'declaration of death.'

However, the following criteria must be considered:

• When should a person legally be considered dead, or stated differently, what physiological standards should be used by the medical profession to determine that an individual has died?
• What tests and procedures are used to determine that the physiological standards have been met?

There is one thing that just about everyone in New York State can agree upon, no one wants to be declared dead before our 'time.'