Understand the difference between ‘died from’ or ‘died with’ COVID-19
The difference between “of” or “with” is important to note in determining the death rate from the virus.
Knowing the primary cause of death along with the secondary cause
is important to understanding the death rate from coronavirus. That’s because
what’s written on death certificates can be a bit confusing.
Doctors say the Centers for Disease Control educated providers on
how to fill out the death certificate accurately in April. The training helps
doctors determine whether a patient died of or with COVID.
Doctors say dying “of” or “with” COVID-19 are two vastly different
things. Health officials explain, death certificates are separated into primary
and secondary causes. Primary causes are what ultimately killed the patient.
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So, in the case of someone with COVID-19 who died of pneumonia, COVID-19 would be listed in part one directly under pneumonia. In this case, providers would mark the patient as having died “of COVID-19.
Doctors say secondary causes don’t directly lead to death, but
they’re co-morbidities that increase likelihood of having a bad outcome
As a clinician and as a physician, that kind of
classification makes a lot more sense to me because then we've got more
granularity on the data and we know exactly who is directly related to COVID,
whereas who may have just died while being infected with COVID.
A lot of people are saying that hospitals may be
doing this in a cynical fashion to try to get more money because they're being
reimbursed according to how many COVID deaths we have.
If doctors follow the CDC’s instructions on filing death
certificates, the information should be accurate. The number of people who died
of COVID-19 is considered the number of people whose primary cause of death was
due to the virus.
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Doctors say the information gathered helps the public understand the impact of the pandemic.
According to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), there is no
difference when it comes to tracking and reporting COVID deaths. OHA spokesman
Jonathan Modie explained in an email how the state determines what is counted
as a COVID-19 death:
We consider COVID-19 deaths to be:
Deaths in which a patient hospitalized for any reason within
14 days of a positive COVID-19 test result dies in the hospital or within the
60 days following discharge.
Deaths in which COVID-19 is listed as a primary or
contributing cause of death on a death certificate.
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We count COVID-19 deaths this way because the virus can often have effects on an individual’s health that may complicate their recovery from other diseases and conditions, even injuries, and indirectly contribute to their death. Another reason is because OHA is using this data to track the spread of the disease, and to create actionable steps for stopping its spread.