West Virginia Code 16-19-21 – Cooperation between medical examiner and procurement organization
(a) A medical examiner shall cooperate with a procurement organization to maximize the opportunity to recover anatomical gifts for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research or education.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 16-19-21
- 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 West Virginia Code 16-19-3
- 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: includes any person designated by the medical examiner to perform any duties required by this article. See West Virginia Code 16-19-3
- Part: means an organ, an eye, or tissue of a human being. See West Virginia Code 16-19-3
- Procurement organization: means an eye bank, organ procurement organization, or tissue bank. See West Virginia Code 16-19-3
(b) If a medical examiner receives notice from a procurement organization that an anatomical gift was or might have been made with respect to a decedent whose body is in the custody of the medical examiner, the medical examiner shall endeavor to conduct a post-mortem examination in a manner and within a period compatible with its preservation for the purposes of the gift, unless the medical examiner denies recovery in accordance with section twenty-two of this article.
(c) While the decedent's body is in the custody of a medical examiner, a part may not be removed for transplantation, therapy, research or education or the body delivered for research and education unless the part or the body is the subject of an anatomical gift. This subsection does not preclude a medical examiner from performing a medicolegal investigation upon the decedent's body or parts while in his or her custody.