Cause of Death on Death Certificate

Hi everyone -

My dad recently passed away at 55. He was overweight, and smoked like a chimney, and was a lifelong alcoholic.

His coworkers found his body about 2 days after he died in him home. The aftermath has been absolutely brutal.

He lived alone for the last 15 years, and distanced himself from his family.

We went to his home after he passed and discovered he was a hoarder. There was trash and alcohol bottles piled up to the ceiling.

My question is, the coroner said my dad died of natural causes, and did NOT do an autopsy. We just received his death certificate and it lists “multiple organ failure” and “heavy alcohol abuse” as causes of death. I obviously knew he was an alcoholic, and if you looked around his house, you’d know it too. I guess I was shocked that this could be listed and determined to be his cause of death if there was no autopsy. Death certs are public record, so it just adds insult to injury in terms of my grief.

Has this ever happened to anyone?