SCS SB 1139 -- UNIFORM ANATOMICAL GIFT ACT AND CORONER DEATH
INVESTIGATIONS

This bill changes the laws regarding investigation procedures for
coroners and the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.  In its main
provisions, the bill:

(1)  Establishes procedural requirements for coroners and
jurisdiction priority when two counties are involved in the
determination and investigation of a death;

(2)  Requires coroners and medical examiners to cooperate with a
procurement organization to maximize the opportunity to recover
anatomical gifts;

(3)  Specifies additional requirements for coroners and medical
examiners to follow regarding anatomical gifts;

(4)  Requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to
establish or contract for the establishment of a first person
consent organ and tissue donor registry;

(5)  Specifies which documents are acceptable to make an
anatomical gift;

(6)  Defines "anatomical gift" as a donation of all or part of a
human body after death and specifies how an anatomical gift can
be revoked;

(7)  Specifies the procedure under which an individual can refuse
to make an anatomical gift;

(8)  Specifies who is authorized to make an anatomical gift of a
deceased individual's body and to whom an anatomical gift can be
made;

(9)  Allows law enforcement officers, emergency personnel, and
hospital staff to search a deceased or near-death individual for
documentation as a donor;

(10)  Specifies that, upon referral of a potential donor, a
procurement organization will search a donor registry and other
applicable records to determine if the individual has made an
anatomical gift;

(11)  Allows a procurement organization to conduct a medical exam
to ensure medical suitability of the donation;

(12)  Prohibits the attending physician at death or the physician
who determines the time of death from participating in the
removal or transplantation of a body part of the deceased;

(13)  Specifies that a person who knowingly purchases or sells a
body part for transplantation will be guilty of a felony and
subject to a fine of up to $50,000, imprisonment not exceeding
seven years, or both;

(14)  Specifies that a person who knowingly falsifies, forges,
conceals, defaces, or obliterates a document of gift, an
amendment or revocation of a document of gift, or a refusal will
be guilty of a felony and subject to a fine of up to $50,000,
imprisonment not exceeding seven years, or both;

(15)  Requires the Department of Revenue to cooperate with a
state-established donor registry; and

(16)  Revises the order of priority for next-of-kin designations
by giving first priority to determine and control the burial,
cremation, or final disposition of the deceased person to an
attorney-in-fact designated in a durable power of attorney that
specifically grants the right of sepulcher.  Currently, any
designation of a grant of the right of sepulcher by the deceased
is superseded by the rights of the deceased's spouse or other
certain family members to choose the final disposition of the
body.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:13 pm