The medical certificate shall be drafted and signed by the physician who attended the decedent for the last time and shall specify the duration of such attendance, the date on which the physician saw him alive for the last time and the date and hour of the death, and shall also specify the cause of the death in such a manner as will show the course of the sickness or the series of causes that produced the death, stating firstly the sickness which was the direct cause of death and the secondary cause or causes, if any, that contributed thereto, and the duration of each of them. Indefinite terms expressing only symptoms of illness or conditions resulting therefrom shall not be considered sufficient for the issuance of a burial permit or a removal-and-burial permit, and any certificate containing such terms, according to such rules as the Secretary of Health shall make for the purpose, shall be returned to the physician or person signing such certificate, for its correction or amplification. Causes of death which are the result of sickness or violence shall be carefully described and, in case of violent death, the cause of the injury and the certainty or probability that the death ation. Causes of death which are the result of sickness or violence shall be carefully described and, in case of violent death, the cause of the injury and the certainty or probability that the death was due to accident, suicide, or homicide, shall be stated. As regards deaths occurring in hospitals or other institutions, or among non-residents, the physician shall, whenever possible, furnish the information required in clause 26, stating where, in his opinion, the illness was contracted.\nHistory —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 10; Apr. 28, 1954, No. 24, p. 152.
Puerto Rico Legal Code