Causes of Death

  The most reliable way to determine a person's cause of death is an autopsy. The victims of the limousine crash underwent autopsies which revealed their cause of death was blunt force injuries. Autopsies are expensive, costing in the thousands of dollars for each corpse. They are mandated if there is any evidence of criminal causation. Then the fee is paid by the investigative unit, or so I gather. Hospitals cover the cost of an autopsy if it is their interest  for teaching or if a body has been donated.
   Unless you are murdered, your chance of getting an autopsy is next to zero. That no doubt is a good thing. But many autopsies are conducted on a private-pay basis. If the family of the deceased suspects that negligence or mal-treatment by medical professionals or institutions or companies may have led to their family member's death, they often pay for a private autopsy. They want answers and are willing to pay the price for that answer. Often the basis for their wanting to know is a lawsuit. Good luck to them, because that's the only way they're likely to know for sure.
   Every so often, the news will report the death of an older person, and the consensus is death was due to a heretofore undiagnosed case of Lyme disease or such. Or else, the death was caused by a rare infection or other malady. That makes news.
   But if, say, someone, especially an  older person, dies in a non-dramatic fashion, the chances are slim that the hospital or medical examiner will try very hard to find the cause. Heart failure will most likely be the ultimate ruling. Why cut the poor old thing open; death will occur soon enough anyway.
   The point is that when you hear that a person dies of a particular disease or condition, it is most likely that the family insisted on finding out the reason. It's not an automatic follow-through. Especially for the old folks. We could contract the bubonic plague, and the death certificate would read natural causes.