§ 21 — Cooperation between medical examiner and procurement organization

Massachusetts § 21

• Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
• Part I: ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT
• Title XVI: PUBLIC HEALTH
• Ch. 113A: UNIFORM ANATOMICAL GIFT ACT

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Section 21. (a) The chief medical examiner and the district attorneys shall cooperate with procurement organizations to maximize the opportunity to recover anatomical gifts for transplantation, therapy, research or education.(b) The procurement organization authorized to remove an anatomical gift from a donor whose death is under investigation shall remove the donated part from the donor's body after giving notice to the chief medical examiner and the appropriate district attorney, or their respective designees, subject to this section. The chief medical examiner and the district attorney, or their respective designees, shall approve or deny removal of the anatomical gift within a time period that ensures the preservation of the anatomical gift for transplantation. Unless the district attorney objects, the procurement organization may transport the donor's body for the removal of the anatomical gift consistent with this subsection; provided, however, that the procurement organization shall transport the donor's body to the medical examiner's facilities after removal of the anatomical gift when required. The chief medical examiner, or his designee, may permit the removal of the anatomical gift at the medical examiner's office. The chief medical examiner or district attorney, or their respective designees, shall be present during the removal of the anatomical gift if in their judgment such attendance would facilitate a donation that would otherwise be denied. In that case, the chief medical examiner or district attorney, or their respective designees, may request a biopsy or deny removal of the anatomical gift and shall explain the reasons for determining that those tissues or organs may be involved in the cause of death.(c) No medical examiner, physician, procurement organization who acts or attempts to act in good faith in accordance with this section shall be liable for that act in a civil action or criminal proceeding.