Finding out cause of death

[kelleyrn2000]

Does anyone know if most counties allow you to look up the cause of death for people (death certificate) if you aren't a relative? I know the person died of cancer, but I am looking to find out what type of cancer, and I don't have contact with any of the person's living relatives.


Also, do you know if the EPA makes public record of well water testing that they perform? I can't seem to find it anywhere on their website. TIA!!


There have been several neighbors within our block of a rural neighborhood who have passed away from Pancreatic cancer in the past few years. The person who we bought our home from died from cancer, but I'm not sure which type. I know last year, after two more deaths, the EPA was asking my MIL, living practically behind us, if they could test her well. Now this year, on Christmas day, yet another neighbor passed away from pancreatic cancer :sad1

I guess I am just wondering what are the odds that this has hit so many people, even though I realize the neighborhood is primarily people ages 45-75. And wondering if that's why the EPA was requesting well samples last year.

 

[FireDancer]

In most states yes, death certificates are public records. There are some situations, however, where the publicly available certificate will have the cause of death either completely redacted or just the nature of the cause (accidental, natural, homicide, ect) available and not the specific cause. It's been a while since I've been in the industry but I remember NYC (which has a completely different certificate than NYS) was the most restrictive in getting the cause of death. Cook County, IL also had different (and much stricter) rules than the rest of Illinois.

Even in states where you can get the full certificate you often cannot obtain certified copies of the certificate unless you are immediate family or something like the POA or executioner of the will.

If you are considering a law suit you can probably have an attorney subpoena the death certificates if the cause of death is not on the publicly filed record.

 

[tvguy]

The coroner here started posting eveything on their website. Been doing it for about 6 months now.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

Thanks for the replies. I will check out the court house and see if I can get a specific cause of death. I won't need a copy, I just want to know because it seems so bizarre to me to have so many pancreatic cancer deaths in our block. There were a husband and wife that lived behind us and both passed away of it within a year. I'm concerned about my MIL and also our family. We had our well test done when we bought our house, but I don't know how specific the testing was.

I may just be paranoid, but pancreatic cancer scares me since it is so deadly. And of course I'm curious as to what the EPA found in the wells around us. Thanks!!

 

[daisax]

I don't know if there's Freedom of Information Act access to what the heck the EPA is looking for. You may have the right to that information.