What does death by natural death REALLY mean? Experts explain the terminology
- Natural death means a coroner rules there was no outside source
- Cancer or stroke would be a ‘natural’ death and a car wreck would be ‘unnatural’
It is often heard that a person’s death was due to ‘natural causes’.
But as it says on S Club’s Paul Cattermole’s death certificate, what does the terminology actually mean?
Many associate the phrase with old age, but it actually indicates that a death was the result of an illness within the body, rather than being caused by an external factor.
A natural cause of death is confirmed by a coroner’s statement stating that an autopsy is not necessary, based on a medical certificate from a physician.
Mr. Cattermole was found dead on April 6 – just two months after he and the band announced they would be embarking on a reunion tour this fall.
S Club 7’s Paul Cattermole was found dead on April 6 – just two months after he and the band announced they would be embarking on a reunion tour this fall
And today, a spokeswoman for Dorset Coroner’s Office confirmed that the singer died suddenly of natural causes at the age of 46 and that there will be no inquest into his death.
Dr. Kathryn Pinneri, pathologist and president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, said deaths from cancer, stroke or diabetes would be classified as “natural causes.”
Examples of “unnatural” deaths include traffic accidents, suicide, drug overdoses and accidents such as drowning, she said. HuffPost.
And Dr. David Fowler, an anatomical and forensic pathologist, described the manner of death CNN as dying from a ‘natural disease process’.
He said examples of this include diseases that “will drag us down the road at some point,” such as infections or heart disease.
“If I play a sport and have a heart attack… or shoveling snow and have a heart attack because I’ve stressed myself out, that’s normal,” Dr. Fowler said.
But if a person playing sports were to die from something caused by the activity, such as a head injury, that death would not be “natural.”
There is a difference between the ’cause’ and the ‘manner’ of death.
And despite the fact that the term is “natural death,” this is actually the “manner” of death – the determination of how the injury or illness leads to death.
The coroner decides whether the manner of death was natural, accidental, or by suicide or homicide.
While the ’cause’ is the disease or injury itself that leads to death, such as a stroke.