Weiner v. Meredith


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Docket Number: 2005-CA-02329-SCT

Supreme Court: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 11-30-2006
Opinion Author: DICKINSON, J.
Holding: REVERSED AND REMANDED

Additional Case Information: Topic: Amendment of death certification - Jurisdiction - Section 41-57-13(1)
Judge(s) Concurring: SMITH, C.J., WALLER AND COBB, P.JJ., DIAZ, EASLEY, CARLSON AND RANDOLPH, JJ.
Non Participating Judge(s): GRAVES, J.
Procedural History: Dismissal
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - OTHER

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 11-23-2005
Appealed from: Coahoma County Chancery Court
Judge: William Willard
Disposition: Chancellor held that he had no jurisdiction to hear the matter & denied the relief requested by Appellant
Case Number: 2005-450

  Party Name: Attorney Name:  
Appellant: ROGER WEINER, M.D.




MARK P. CARAWAY, CORY LOUIS RADICIONI



 

Appellee: SCOTTY A. MEREDITH, COAHOMA COUNTY CORONER TOM T. ROSS, JR.  

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Topic: Amendment of death certification - Jurisdiction - Section 41-57-13(1)

Summary of the Facts: Thomas Harrell was admitted to Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in Clarksdale. According to a letter from Dr. Steven Hayne to Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith, Harrell had suffered a traumatic injury to the head and never regained consciousness. Dr. Roger Weiner, who was Harrell’s treating physician, completed a death certificate stating the cause of death to be “Congestive Heart Failure” due to “Coronary Artery Disease.” Some of Harrell’s family members contacted the coroner’s office about the cause of death listed by Dr. Weiner. Meredith, acting in his capacity as Coroner of Coahoma County, filed a death certificate with the Mississippi Department of Health listing Harrell’s cause of death as “Closed Head Trauma.” Because he disagreed with the Coroner, Dr. Weiner petitioned the Chancery Court of Coahoma County to hold an evidentiary hearing on the matter and amend the death certificate. The chancellor held he had no jurisdiction to hear the matter, and he denied the relief requested by Dr. Weiner. Dr. Weiner appeals.

Summary of Opinion Analysis: Dr. Weiner argues that the chancery court had jurisdiction to amend Harrell’s death certificate pursuant to the plain language of section 41-57-13(1). The statute specifically provides that errors in a death certificate “in the medical certification” or relating to an item “of a medical nature” may be amended by the person originally certifying the information – in this case, the Coroner – or by the State Medical Examiner using a specified form. This gives those two specified persons the ability to amend the death certificate as to items “in the medical certification” or relating to an item “of a medical nature” without having to go to the chancery court. In contrast, the last sentence of the statute requires “all other amendments,” that is, all amendments not concerning errors in the recording of personal information and items not in the medical certification and of a medical nature sought to be amended upon specified form by either the person originally certifying the certificate or the State Medical Examiner, be adjudicated in the chancery court. Thus, a plain reading of the statute supports Dr. Weiner’s argument. Since the requested amendment in this case was not made by Meredith or the State Medical Examiner, a plain application of the statute simply results in a finding that the amendment cannot be made by an amendment form, but instead must be adjudicated in the chancery court.


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