N.Y. Public Health Law § 4100: Vital statistics; functions, powers and duties of the department, commissioner and public health council

§ 4100. Vital statistics; functions, powers and duties of the

department, commissioner and public health council. 1. The department

shall, except in the city of New York:

(a) have charge of the registration of births and deaths;

(b) procure the faithful registration of births and deaths;

(c) provide the necessary instructions and forms for obtaining and

preserving records of births and deaths; and,

(d) be charged with the uniform and thorough enforcement of the

provisions of this article throughout the state.

2. The commissioner shall:

(a) have general supervision of vital statistics;

(b) provide suitably equipped offices for the permanent and safe

preservation of all records received or made under the provisions of

this article;

(c) prepare, print, and supply to all registrars all forms used in

registering, recording and preserving the returns, or in otherwise

carrying out the purposes of this article;

(d) prepare and issue such detailed instructions, not inconsistent

with the sanitary code, as may be required to procure the uniform

observance of the provisions of this article and the maintenance of a

good system of registration;

(e) examine the certificates received monthly and if any such are

incomplete or unsatisfactory, he shall require such further information

to be supplied as may be necessary to make the record complete and

satisfactory;

(f) arrange, and permanently preserve the certificates in a systematic

manner;

(g) prepare and maintain a complete typewritten, printed, photographic

or magnetically stored index of all births and deaths registered; said

index to be arranged, in the case of deaths, by the names of decedents,

and in the case of births, by the names of fathers, or the names of

mothers if the names of the fathers do not appear; and

(h) prescribe and prepare the necessary methods and forms for

obtaining and preserving records and statistics of autopsies which are

conducted by a coroner or by a medical examiner, or by his order, within

the state of New York, and shall require all those performing such

autopsies, for the purpose of determining the cause of death or the

means or manner of death, to enter upon such record the pathological

appearances and findings embodying such information as may be

prescribed, and to append thereto the diagnosis of the cause of death

and the means or manner of death.

(i) upon notification by the division of criminal justice services

that a person who was born in the state is a missing child, flag the

certificate record of that person in such manner that whenever a copy of

the record is requested, he or she shall be alerted to the fact that the

record is that of a missing child. The commissioner shall also notify

the appropriate registrar to likewise flag his or her records. The

commissioner or registrar shall immediately report to the local law

enforcement authority and the division of criminal justice services any

request concerning flagged birth records or knowledge as to the

whereabouts of any missing child. Upon notification by the division of

criminal justice services that the missing child has been recovered, the

commissioner shall remove the flag from the person's certificate record

and shall notify any other previously notified registrar to remove the

flag from his or her record. In the city of New York, the commissioner

of the department of health for the city of New York shall implement the

requirements of this paragraph.

3. The public health council may from time to time establish such

rules and regulations in the sanitary code supplementary to the

provisions of this article and not inconsistent therewith, as it may

deem necessary, in relation to the registration of births, deaths and

fetal deaths. Such rules and regulations shall be observed by all

persons upon whom duties are imposed by this chapter in connection with

the registration of births, deaths and fetal deaths.

4. Certified nurse practitioners completing a death certificate for a

death occurring in the city of New York shall have the same authority

and responsibility to complete the certificate as they would have if the

death occurred outside such city; provided, however, that such

responsibility shall be exercised in accordance with the rules and

regulations of the city of New York.