Chapter
542
2006 -- S 2616 AS AMENDED
Enacted 07/10/06
A N A
C T
RELATING TO HEALTH
AND SAFETY -- UNIFORM ANATOMICAL GIFT ACT
Introduced By: Senators
Blais, and Breene
Date Introduced: February
09, 2006
It is
enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 23-18.6-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-18.6 entitled
"Uniform Anatomical Gift Act" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
23-18.6-4.
Authorization by medical examiner. Referral of death and
authorization
by medical examiner. – (a) The medical
examiner or his or her designee shall provide the
federally designated organ
procurement organization and other nonprofit federally registered eye
and tissue banks, in a
timely manner, all information necessary to facilitate organ and tissue
donation including, but not
limited to, names and available contact information of individuals
whose deaths have been
reported to the medical examiner's office and jurisdiction accepted.
(a) (b) The medical examiner may release and permit the removal
of a part from a body
within
that official's custody, for transplantation or therapy, if:
(1) The official has received a request for the part from a hospital,
physician, surgeon, or
procurement
organization;
(2) The hospital staff "transplant team" has made a reasonable
effort, taking into account
the
useful life of the part, to locate and examine the decedent's medical records
and inform
persons
listed in section 23-18.6-3(a) of their option to make, or object to making, an
anatomical
gift; A donation has been authorized in accordance with
section 23-18.6-2 or 23-18.6-3;
(3) The official does not know of a refusal or contrary indication by the
decedent or
objection
by a person having priority authority to act as listed in section
23-18.6-3(a);
(4) The removal will be by a physician, surgeon, or technician; but in the case
of eyes,
by one
of them or by an enucleator;
(5) The removal will not interfere with any autopsy, investigation, procedure,
or other
additional
activity as deemed necessary by the medical examiner required to arrive
at a
reasonable
cause and manner of death;
(6) The removal will be in accordance with accepted medical standards; and
(7) Cosmetic restoration will be done, if appropriate.
(c)
The medical examiner, or his or her designee, may permit the removal of the
anatomical
gift to occur at the medical examiner's office.
(b) (d) A permanent record of the names of the decedent, the
person making the request,
the date
and purpose of the request, the part requested, and the person to whom it was
released
should
be made by the hospital/physician/technician (enucleator) and forwarded to the
medical
examiner
for his or her records.
(c) (e) The medical examiner, or his or her designee, shall be
present during the removal
of the
anatomical gift if in his or her judgment such attendance would, in the opinion
of the
medical
examiner or his or her designee, facilitate a donation that would otherwise be
denied.
(d) (f) The medical examiner, or his or her designee, may only
deny removal of the
anatomical
gift after explaining in writing or verbally with subsequent written
documentation to
the
federally designated organ procurement organization and other nonprofit
federally registered
eye
and tissue banks, reasons for
determining that those tissues or organs may be involved in the
cause of
death.
SECTION
2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00260/2
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