Originally Posted by Herod
Just a nit-pick, but I think the cause of death is always lack of oxygen to the brain, resulting in brain death. Of course, cardiac arrest would have that effect.
Well that sort of makes the point (that I didn't actually make) which is that we can always go back up the chain and find something else that could be said to be the cause. We have to find some meaningful place to draw a line.
One could reasonably argue that it makes little odds whether it's cardiac arrest or lack of oxygen - you're still dead - and that's the issue here.