Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 2727 – Facilitation of anatomical gift from decedent whose death is under …
(a) The OPO shall in all cases collaborate with the medical examiner to ensure the preservation of forensic evidence and collection of photographs and specimens. A medical examiner shall, upon request, release to the OPO the name, contact information and available medical and social history of a decedent whose death is under investigation. If the decedent‘s body or part is medically suitable for transplantation, therapy, research or education, the medical examiner shall release postmortem examination results to the OPO. The OPO may make a subsequent disclosure of the postmortem examination results or other information received from the medical examiner to support the purposes of the donation.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 2727
- Advance health-care directive: means a directive under § 2503 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 2710
- Anatomical gift: means a donation of all or part of a human body to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 2710
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Decedent: means a deceased individual and includes a stillborn infant or fetus. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 2710
- Donor: The person who makes a gift.
- Donor: means an individual who makes a gift of all or part of the individual's body. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 2710
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Medical examiner: means the Chief Medical Examiner, a Deputy Medical Examiner, an Assistant Medical Examiner, or their designee. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 2710
- OPO: means the federally certified organ procurement organization for the State. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 2710
- Part: includes organs, tissues, eyes, bones, arteries, blood, other fluids and other portions of a human body, and "part" includes "parts. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 2710
- Person: means an individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, statutory trust, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association or any other legal entity. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 2710
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or any other law to the contrary, if the medical examiner has notice, by an advance health-care directive, will, card or other document or as otherwise provided in this chapter, that a deceased person whose death is under investigation is a donor, the medical examiner shall perform an examination, autopsy or analysis of tissues or organs only in a manner and within a time period compatible with the preservation of the tissues or organs for the purpose of transplantation.
(c) If the examination, autopsy or analysis has not been undertaken under subsection (b) of this section, all of the following apply to cases involving a prospective organ donor:
(1) A physician or technician authorized to remove an anatomical gift from a donor may remove the donated part from the body of a donor whose death is under investigation for acceptance by a person authorized to become a donee subject to paragraph (c)(2) of this section.
(2) The medical examiner shall be invited to be present during organ recovery if, in the judgment of the medical examiner, those organs may be involved in the cause of death. While in attendance, if the medical examiner determines that the organs are involved in the cause of death, the medical examiner may request a biopsy of those organs or deny removal of the anatomical gift. The medical examiner shall explain in writing the reasons for determining that those organs may be involved in the cause of death and the basis for denying removal of the anatomical gift and shall include the written explanation in the records maintained by the medical examiner.
(3) The OPO shall pay the reasonable costs for the professional services of the medical examiner associated with attending the recovery under paragraph (c)(2) of this section above.
(d) The physician or technician recovering a part from a donor under this section shall file upon request of the medical examiner, a report detailing the condition of the part of the body that is the anatomical gift. If appropriate, the report shall include a biopsy or medically approved sample from the anatomical gift.