# Cause of Death in an Obituary Issue **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2022, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466 "2022-01-09T01:19:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/101 "2022-01-10T06:57:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > If the cause of death isn’t my business, then the death isn’t my business. Yes. It isn’t. Are you generally of the opinion that _everything_ in the newspaper is your business? Because I’ve got some news for you about the personals…(especially the _F seeking F_ section) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/102 "2022-01-10T07:46:17Z")
In Norway the family will pay to publish a death notice in newspapers of their choice. You can see a representative sample [here on the page of a major funeral service chain](https://dahlsbegravelse.no/dodsannonse/). They vary in length and detail, from the very short, to including a couple of sentences of running text, but generally are on the form “Our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister Jane Doe passed away on 1.1.2022 Oslo 10.1.2022 (date of publication) John Janey Johnny Jan-Jan grandchildren great-grandchildren funeral service will be held in Oslo harbour 3pm sunday” It sometimes will include the cause of death or clues to it, but most often doesn’t. I’ve seen “lost the battle with cancer”, “after a sudden illness”, “chose to leave us”, etc. etc. Obituaries (Norw. _nekrolog_) are submitted to the newspapers often by non-family members. The biggest non-tabloid in Norway writes that it’s not the status or celebrity of a person that decides which obits get published (the famous get a news article / obit if they die anyway), but that the obit itself is an interesting text about a life lived. It doesn’t cost to have it published, nor is the writer paid. An editor might give feedback on the text and suggest changes. They used to have a “not written by family members” guideline, but that appears to have disappeared. With regard to the cause of death the guidelines say that readers often appreciate getting the CoD, particularly for younger people, and that phrases such as “after a long/short illness” are appropriate. They also mention that Norwegian newspapers have specific guidelines around suicides, but don’t link to them. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/103 "2022-01-10T09:50:32Z")
That anyone would believe their morbid curiosity, as to COD, should trump the tender feelings of the surviving family at a most difficult time, is astounding to me. People should be allowed to celebrate a life lived without pressure to revisit the often painful details of the passing for the ‘curious’. If you’re so certain you have a right to know, then, by all means, waltz right up to the grieving family and ask them! If you’re feeling indelicate doing so, maybe there’s a good reason for that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/104 "2022-01-10T10:57:54Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > “Because I want to know!” isn’t justification for revealing private details about how a person died. Or indeed, any breach of privacy in general. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/105 "2022-01-10T11:08:14Z")
> [@susan](#): > > The paper wouldn’t publish the obit without a cause of death, or accept a cause of death such as “his heart stopped” because that was, in that editor’s opinion, descriptive rather than causal. Oh, I’d never heard if that kind of situation. That editor sounds like a jerk. I’m sorry you had to go through that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/106 "2022-01-10T12:45:57Z")
What if the cause of death is not known? My dad was 56 years old when he and my mom went to sleep. She woke up, he didn’t. He was in perfect health as far as I know. I looked forward to the results of the autopsy. Then I found out that my mom freaked out over the mention of an autopsy. She was Jewish and for some reason her religion was against autopsies(?). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/107 "2022-01-10T13:18:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > She was Jewish and for some reason her religion was against autopsies(?). Most Orthodox and Conservative Jewish groups avoid autopsies unless absolutely needed. They consider them desecration of a corpse, and Jewish tradition requires burial of the entire body so the loss of parts during an autopsy is a problem. Reform Judaism generally is more accommodating of autopsy, and considers the ability to learn things that might help the living important. As always, there are exceptions. > **[Autopsies and Jewish Law: An Orthodox Perspective | My Jewish Learning](https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/autopsies-and-jewish-law/)** > > Jewish Autopsies. Death and the Jewish Body. Contemporary Issues on Jewish Death and Mourning. Jewish Bereavement. Jewish Lifecycle ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/108 "2022-01-10T13:50:44Z")
The caller saying Saget was “obviously” dead makes it sound like his head was off. I’m not implying that it was; just seems like an odd word choice. I’m sure they confirmed the death in some way beyond appearance before making the call. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/109 "2022-01-10T14:27:19Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Of course they often do. News stories—not just paid announcements—are also called obituaries. And the reference was to news reports about Bob Saget’s death. For every Bob Saget, there are thousands of Joe Blows. > [@Acsenray](#): > > HIPAA is not a general privacy law. It is about how certain kinds of entities and persons in certain jobs must deal with personal medical information obtained in the course of medical treatment. It doesn’t create a general right to privacy for dead people. If I find out someone’s health details, I can tell everyone in the world, publish it, post it on social media, and HIPAA has nothing to say about it. It’s true that most of us aren’t “covered entities.” My reference is to the point that HIPAA (and state privacy laws on which it was based) generally do not differentiate the privacy rights of the living from those of the dead. If you wouldn’t want me going around town announcing your Aunt Tessie has syphilis while she’s still alive, you probably wouldn’t want me to print that she died of it. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/110 "2022-01-10T16:15:09Z")
Yes, but - “no-fault” doesn’t tell you why they divorced, it tells you what the legal grounds were, not the cause of the divorce. A no-fault divorce could have been caused by anything - it is just as informative as saying that someone died because their heart stopped beating without any explanation of what caused their heart to stop beating. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/111 "2022-01-10T17:30:59Z")
Thank you. At least I was handling this rather than my mother. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/112 "2022-01-10T19:37:12Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > The caller saying Saget was “obviously” dead makes it sound like his head was off. I don’t see it that way. I think most lay people can tell if someone is “obviously” dead. Eyes open, face contorted. You wouldn’t be screaming into the phone for an ambulance in that situation. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/113 "2022-01-10T20:02:35Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > o me it doesn’t matter whether we “deserve” it. But I expect the journalists who are writing about this matter to follow up and eventually reveal the cause of death Are you under the impression that journalists write everyday obits? And is that why you feel that missing cause of deaths is bad journalism? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/114 "2022-01-10T20:08:36Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > > > The caller saying Saget was “obviously” dead makes it sound like his head was off. > > I don’t see it that way. I think most lay people can tell if someone is “obviously” dead. Eyes open, face contorted. You wouldn’t be screaming into the phone for an ambulance in that situation. One of my cats was killed by a dog, who shook the cat and broke its neck. I got there just as it was over, and the fog dropped my cat when I challenged it. The cat wasn’t obviously dead. But soon thereafter, the fleas left the body, and rigor set in, and the cat was obviously dead. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/115 "2022-01-10T20:38:00Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’m just saying don’t tell me it’s not my business. If you want me to know about the death then the next natural question—how did it happen?—is a perfectly reasonable one. What makes you think they want you to know about the death? Just because a notice is public, does not mean it is aimed at every person who may happen to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/116 "2022-01-10T23:23:24Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > The caller saying Saget was “obviously” dead makes it sound like his head was off. > > I’m not implying that it was; just seems like an odd word choice. I’m sure they confirmed the death in some way beyond appearance before making the call. Emergency services were called by hotel security approx 4pm. That could easily be 12 or more hours between when he passed & when he was discovered, enough time for things like lividity (basically blood settling to the bottom of the body), rigor mortis, & body cooling towards room temp to set in, coupled w/ a lack of breathing make it quite obvious the person is deceased. As an EMT I’ve been dispatched to cardiac arrests before. Especially those in the morning, where the deceased passed in their sleep & is only now being found by a spouse or family member hours later. Sometimes the PD would get there first & recall/reduce (speed) us for an ‘obvious’ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/117 "2022-01-10T23:24:30Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Now before you say it’s because **it’s none of my business** I get that No, I don’t think you do. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/118 "2022-01-11T02:35:54Z")
I’ve already said it’s the family’s right not to publish or talk about how their loved one died, but that doesn’t stop me from being curious. For some reason when anyone dies I’m interested in how and why, whether they are famous or not. I’m just a curious person, and with no way to find out without calling the family, which I would never do, I will come to my own conclusion. It will likely be wrong, but at least I’ll have a possible answer and can move on. I’m obviously not the only one who is curious about this when they occasionally read the Obits. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/119 "2022-01-11T02:58:49Z")
This thread has inspired me. I have instructed My Beloved that, no matter my cause of death, she is to put in my obituary that I died in a tragic accident involving a frozen penguin and an arc welder. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466/120 "2022-01-11T03:05:28Z")
Moderating: > [@Guinastasia](#): > > No, I don’t think you do. I fail to see the point of this post beyond disparaging someone’s opinion and attempting to shut down discussion in a particular direction. It can be construed as thread shitting. At the least, it is a comment made solely for the purpose of insulting someone’s opinion. No warning, but don’t do this again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-in-an-obituary-issue/957466.md?page=7)