I just received my husbands death certificate and it lists malnutrition as cause 1 and brain cancer as cause 2. My husband was not malnourished. We had gone out to eat on Saturday and he passed away the following Monday morning. Why would the doctor have put malnourished as the primary cause?

Ask the doctor.

Cancer patients are often malnourished. The chemo treatment, and radiation treatment, makes it almost impossible to eat.

Both my parents died of cancer. My dad lost 60 pounds in one month, with no treatment for his cancer, before he even knew he had cancer, because of the cancer itself. He had no appetite, claimed everything he ate tasted like ash. The cancer did the rest.

My mom went from an overweight woman, to a skeleton after 10 months of dealing with, and being treated for, her cancer.

The doctor that did the autopsy should know that most cancers cause rapid weight loss, especially if you're being treated with chemo and radiation. The main cause of your husbands death is obviously cancer. Being malnourished is just a side affect of that disease. :(

I'm reminded of my mom's quote about her cancer "If you're fat and you get sick, you get thin. If you're thin and you get sick, you die". When it comes to cancer, you get thin, and most times you die as well. :(

So sorry for your loss.