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Hmm...those are your only two options for death in those age ranges?
What about murder, suicide, accidental drowning, mauled by a wild animal, burned in a fire, car accident, choked on a pickle?
There are thousands of ways to die that are neither drug overdose or "natural causes".
Well,apparently, that's what happen tomy son ( age 41)who collapse while roller skating with his best friends... the coroner could not find a CAUSE and 3 weeks later of multiple site forensics to figure tout.. Then end deal ended "Sudden Cardio- vascular Collapse" . Worries were he had a 13 year son and 1 year daughter and tried to make sure THEY weren't at risk. Yes he died too soon but he sure did leave a wonderful family who will always treasure his "Footprint" in their lives!! I still miss him to this very day !!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClaraC
The thing is, young people don't die of "natural causes". That's something elderly people die from, and it's a grouping of factors, such as heart disease, diabetes and complications from the flu. Basically means, "nothing to see here" that needs further investigation, it's understood that's the cycle of life.
I talked to a coroner who never listed "natural causes" for someone under the age of 65.
Often if someone is young I'll just google their social media and figure it out, because I'm nosier than anyone I know. And usually you can figure it out that way.
No one ever knows when their number is up~~ All I know my son's life touched many people> local/national and internationally ! I felt so proud seeing the comments/notes sent from across the world and the people who approached me to tell me just HOW my son directly affected them!
Obituaries, were never meant to describe COD..BUT only notify of that passing. The meaning and reasoning is moot for strangers , as anyone close to the deceased would KNOW!
Shows how naive I am, I thought "died unexpectedly" meant a heart attack but others say it's code for suicide or overdose.
(snip).
In my area, if the person was a teen or in their 20s and the obit lists "died unexpectedly" it usually means a suicide or drug overdose. If they died from something else, such as an illness or car accident the obit may or may not list that but usually does not say "died unexpectedly".
Obituaries, were never meant to describe COD..BUT only notify of that passing. The meaning and reasoning is moot for strangers , as anyone close to the deceased would KNOW!
Probably for the same reason no one ever "dies". They "pass away", " go to meet their maker", etc .
"Passed" was ghetto-speak back in the day when I worked in the ghetto. No one ever said "passed" except our welfare clients and new caseworkers would be confused when a client would call and say that someone "passed". Now, everyone says it.
I don't. I say "died". That's what happened. The person DIED. But yes, a decade or so ago, "passed" for "died" was a cultural oddity.
If not died, I do like "joined the choir invisible" from Monty Python's Parrot Sketch, which wonderfully mocks the euphemisms for death.
The thing is, young people don't die of "natural causes". That's something elderly people die from, and it's a grouping of factors, such as heart disease, diabetes and complications from the flu. Basically means, "nothing to see here" that needs further investigation, it's understood that's the cycle of life.
I talked to a coroner who never listed "natural causes" for someone under the age of 65.
Often if someone is young I'll just google their social media and figure it out, because I'm nosier than anyone I know. And usually you can figure it out that way.
Young people most certainly do die of natural causes.
Young people die of cancer, my mother's 14 year old sister died of a heart condition, I knew a 4 year old who died of a stroke.
I am not talking about what a coroner puts in an official, legal document.
I am talking about what a family decides to put in an obituary, BIG difference.
If a family wants to maintain their privacy, yet want to stop people from assuming or wondering if the death of a young person was drug related or a suicide, simply stating "natural causes" is a good way to do it.
I have a feeling a lot of it may be all this HIPPA privacy stuff. Our local radio station, as part of the local morning news, used to tell who was admitted and/or discarged from the hospital the day before. After HIPPA they weren't allowed to do that any more.
I just read the first page of posts so this may have been mentioned already.
You can't get a coroner report without permission from the next of kin.
How long ago was this? Coroner reports aren't public information, unless they are brought up in court as part of a trial.
That was about 10 years ago. It may vary by state. Maybe cause of death is public but not the entire report.
We used to have a weekly paper called the Legal News. Everything that went through the courthouse, recorder's office, etc, was in there. You would see things like John Smith bought new Chevy and the taxable amount was 23,956 or John Smith guardianship and incompetent as reason, or a name change like John Smith, a minor, to John Jones. Or John Smith bought a house and it would say the financing or if it was a Land Contract. More things are public than many people think.
So sorry for your loss, especially under those circumstances.
This is exactly where more information would be useful but the lawsuit issue keeps it silent.
I've also found that the Silent Generation and Greatest Gen. are pretty mum about this stuff.
Someone I know age 80 had a routine colonoscopy and her GI perforated her colon. She ended up with peritonitis (not a small thing at her age) hospitalized for a week. I asked the name of her GI and she did not want to say his name. Isn't that crazy?
My small local hospital gets the highest A rating in our state (not the one she went to) and I have been to the ER there and got great treatment. Yet people here routinely go the the hospital in the larger city nearby which has reports of much higher infection rates and a C report from state. Yep, that's where she went.
Well I wouldn't be mum if I thought it was the doctors fault; however, it is always a risk with a colonoscopy of perforating the colon if they have to remove polyps. My brother in law had a friend this happened to a few years back in his 50's. He was in the hospital for a lot longer than a week and almost died. First colonoscopy.
They didn't before either - I have some from 1900 or so and they say "he went to his death as all men must" - at 42. This was a famous figure.
So the "any more" part of this assumption is incorrect.
I'm a big fan of ephemera from the late 1800s/early 1900s. I've come across many obituaries in old newspapers - especially from the turn of the century who were quite specific for causes of deaths, and details leading up to the deaths if there was a prolonged illness. One in particular went into great detail of how a man got a "dear john" letter from his girlfriend and killed himself over it.
I think privacy is the main reason these details are omitted these days.
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in their lives!! I still miss him to this very day !! 
