(a) Upon request of a procurement organization, a coroner or medical examiner shall release to the procurement organization the name, contact information, and available medical and social history of a decedent whose body is under the jurisdiction of the coroner or medical examiner. Specific operational details regarding visitation, referral methods, recovery logistics, and efforts to minimize interruptions to the operations of the coroner and/or medical examiner will be established in the protocols referenced in Section 22-19-181 (d). Section 164.512 of the Health Information Portability and Protection Act, enacted 1996, specifies that a covered entity may use or disclose protected health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of cadaveric organs, eyes, or tissues for the purpose of facilitating organ, eye, or tissue donation and transplantation. If the decedent's body or part is medically suitable for transplantation, therapy, research, or education, the coroner or medical examiner shall release postmortem (external and/or internal) examination results to the procurement organization. A report limited to cause and manner of death and disclosures of any evidence of infection or other disease process which might preclude safe transplantation of recovered organs and/or tissue will be made available upon request at no charge to the organ procurement organization, tissue bank, or eye bank. If a full report is requested, the organ procurement organization, tissue bank, and eye bank agree to reimburse the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney's office at the currently established price in order to offset costs. The procurement organizations may make a subsequent disclosure of the postmortem examination results or other information received from the coroner or medical examiner only if relevant to transplantation or therapy.
(b) The coroner or medical examiner may conduct a medicolegal examination by reviewing all forwarded pertinent medical records, laboratory test results, x-rays, organ, tissue, eye recovery documentation, other diagnostic results, and other information that any person possesses about a donor or prospective donor whose body is under the jurisdiction of the coroner or medical examiner which the coroner or medical examiner determines may be relevant to the investigation. Organ, tissue, and eye donation records, including documentations of organ, tissue, or eye normalcy and radiographs (organ and tissue donors only), should be submitted to the coroner or medical examiner and/or district attorney based on agreed upon protocols with the organ procurement organization, tissue bank, and eye bank.
(c) A person that has any information requested by a coroner or medical examiner pursuant to subsection (b) shall provide that information as expeditiously as possible to allow the coroner or medical examiner to conduct the medicolegal investigation within a period compatible with the preservation of parts for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education. Specific time periods shall be established by protocols referenced in Section 22-19-181 (d).
(d) Cooperation between the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee and the procurement organizations for the timely removal of the part of a decedent for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education shall occur for a body that is under the jurisdiction of the coroner or medical examiner regardless of whether a postmortem examination is required or to be performed for the recovery of a part for which a release from the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee has been granted based on the determination that the absence of the part will not interfere with determination of cause, manner, circumstances surrounding the death, or evidence collection.
(e) If an anatomical gift of a part from the decedent under the jurisdiction of the coroner or medical examiner has been or might be made, but the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee initially believes that the recovery of the part could interfere with the postmortem investigation into the decedent's cause or manner of death or evidence collection, the coroner or medical examiner or designee shall consult with the procurement organization or physician, surgeon, surgeon's assistant, or technician designated by the procurement organizations about the proposed recovery. Ancillary tests such as MRI, CT scan, and skeletal survey may be required by the coroner or medical examiner or pathologist prior to the determination of suitability for organ or tissue procurement. These tests shall be performed and interpreted by the appropriate physician at the request of the coroner or medical examiner or pathologist and reported in a timely fashion. All expenses for such tests shall be the responsibility of the procurement organizations regardless of the outcome. After consultation, the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee may or may not permit the recovery or impose specific restrictions depending on the nature of the case and the necessity of evidence collection, at which time the organ procurement organization, tissue bank, and eye bank will abide by the decision and operate accordingly.
(f) Following the consultation under subsection (e), in the absence of mutually agreed-upon protocols to resolve conflict between the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee and the organ procurement organization, if the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee intends to deny recovery, the organ procurement organization may request the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee to attend the organ recovery procedure for the part before making a final determination to allow the organ procurement organization to recover the part. Satisfying the request will be at the discretion of the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee based on feasibility. If the request is denied, the organ procurement organization will abide by the decision not to allow procurement and operate accordingly. During the organ removal procedure, the coroner or medical examiner or designee who elected to attend may allow recovery by the procurement organization to proceed, or, if the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee who elected to attend, reasonably believes that the part may be involved in determining the decedent's cause of death or manner of death or circumstances surrounding the death, deny recovery by the procurement organization.
(g) If the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee denies recovery under subsection (f), the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee shall provide the procurement organizations with a specific reason for not allowing recovery of the part, which will then be documented in the official records of the procurement organizations.
(h) If the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee allows recovery of a part under subsection (d), (e), or (f), the procurement organization, upon request, shall cause the physician, surgeon's assistant, or technician who removes the part to provide the coroner or medical examiner with a record describing the condition of the part, a biopsy (liver and kidneys), photographs, and any other information and observations that would assist in the postmortem examination. Specific offerings by the procurement organizations shall be established in specific protocols according to Section 22-19-181(d) and made available to the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee.
(i) If a coroner, medical examiner, district attorney or designee requests to be present at a removal procedure under subsection (f), the coroner or medical examiner or district attorney or designee may request reimbursement for any additional costs and lost work time incurred in complying with subsection (f).
Last modified: May 3, 2021