Funny, plenty of the screamers about covid said you can’t die of old age… if it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for the rest of us
And a quote from the BBC article ""Old age" is only usually given as the sole cause of death in very limited circumstances." and this is why cause of death due to Dementia has shot up. After a fall and breaking her hip the mother in law passed away a couple of years ago as she steadily declined physically up to her death. The cause on the death certificate was listed as "Advanced Dementia", by a locum doctor who didn't have much knowledge of her case, which was complete rubbish as she was a 96 year old lady who had come to her end of life and passed away due to old age. I understand things were reviewed, from a legal perspective, after the Harold Shipman case.
My mum made it to 99 3/4 and took a week to just fade out. The end was like a stuttering lawnmower running out if fuel with her having given up but her worn out body trying to keep her alive. A not particularly pleasant thing for my sister and I to experience. Thankfully the end of life team had, at that stage, suitibly dosed her up to the point where she was oblivious. How much the drugs helped her on her way I can only guess. Death certificate cause of death was old age. She had vascular dementia and had been going downhill for three years.
Yep, exactly the same as in the mother-in-laws case... and I hear you bud, it isn't a pleasant thing to experience. Another quote from the BBC article "This (old age) would be where the certifying doctor has personally cared for someone over a long period; where a gradual decline has been observed and where a doctor is not aware of any identifiable disease or injury contributing to a death."
Sorry sorry for all your losses. Can’t think of anything worse than watching a loved one slowly slip away over time. It’s amazing when you ask the silent majority that the loud minority are often miles off the mark.
Because both my parents died at home I had a slight battle to have their deaths classed as old age. Didn't see any point in having autopsies, but the doctors asked me several times if that's what I wanted on the certificates as they didn't want any problems later.
Sometimes stating on the death certificate that a person has died of old age is a generic term for " we really don't know" because there has been no post mortem. There has to be a specific reason for death and although often very elderly people have several problems it has to be something specific that caused their death. After all old age is not an illness in itself.
As upsetting as it was when my Dad died a few weeks ago, I’m truly thankful he didn’t end up in a home, or suffer in any way. On his death certificate it just says natural causes.
