Gateway Inc. co-founder Mike Hammond dies at age 53

In the UK: a person dies. Their obituary is printed. Their death may be investigated by a coroner before the death is registered. This can sometimes take over a year. So journalists risk contempt of court if they speculate on cause of death. And there's still a strong stigma around some forms of death - suicide, alcoholism, etc. So in those cases the public's "right to know" has to be balanced against the family's right to privacy. (And on a slight tangent many newspaper make a terrible mess of reporting suicide, often significantly raising risk of suicide in people reading those poor quality reports).

If the cause of death was health related (mental or physical) is it really any of our business? I feel these are private matters, and if the family wish to withhold the cause of death then that's their prerogative. We should not expect nor be entitled to demand to know how a person passed away under certain circumstances. The fact of their death is enough for me to know.