§ 20-17-1222 - Cooperation between a coroner or the state medical examiner and a procurement organization. - Arkansas Statutes

20-17-1222. Cooperation between a coroner or the state medical examiner and a procurement organization.

(a) A coroner and the state medical examiner shall cooperate with procurement organizations to maximize the opportunity to recover anatomical gifts for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education.

(b) If a coroner or the state medical examiner receives notice from a procurement organization that an anatomical gift might be available or was made with respect to a decedent whose body is under the jurisdiction of the coroner or the state medical examiner and a post-mortem examination is going to be performed, unless the state medical examiner denies recovery in accordance with 20-17-1223 the state medical examiner or designee shall conduct a post-mortem examination of the body or the part in a manner and within a period compatible with its preservation for the purposes of the gift.

(c) A part may not be removed from the body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of a coroner or the state medical examiner for transplantation, therapy, research, or education unless the part is the subject of an anatomical gift. The body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the coroner or the state medical examiner may not be delivered to a person for research or education unless the body is the subject of an anatomical gift. This subsection does not preclude a coroner or the state medical examiner from performing the medicolegal investigation upon the body or parts of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the coroner or the state medical examiner.