The determination that cocaine is directly responsible for the immediate cause of death
should be considered only when there is a reasonably complete understanding of the
circumstances or facts surrounding the death. Another, more obvious and immediate cause
of death must be absent, or, at least cocaine must be shown to be a significant contributing
factor in the chain of medical findings that lead directly to the immediate cause of death. Not
all death investigation requires the sequential steps described in this paper, but these steps …