HB-5418, As Passed House, December 7, 2005
November 9, 2005, Introduced by Reps. Hune, Gleason, Williams, Kathleen Law, Leland, Sheltrown and Gaffney and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.
A bill to amend 1953 PA 181, entitled
"An act relative to investigations in certain instances of the
causes of death within this state due to violence, negligence or
other act or omission of a criminal nature or to protect public
health; to provide for the taking of statements from injured
persons under certain circumstances; to abolish the office of
coroner and to create the office of county medical examiner in
certain counties; to prescribe the powers and duties of county
medical examiners; to prescribe penalties for violations of the
provisions of this act; and to prescribe a referendum thereon,"
by amending section 9 (MCL 52.209), as added by 2005 PA 176.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 9. (1) If a county medical examiner or his or her
designee receives notification from a person other than a
representative of a hospital of a death that requires an
investigation by the county medical examiner's office pursuant to
this act, the county medical examiner or his or her designee shall
take charge of the body. If, upon viewing the body and personally
inquiring into the cause and manner of the death, the county
medical examiner or his or her designee determines that the body,
according to criteria established by Michigan's federally
designated organ procurement organization, may be suitable for
donation or for the donation of physical parts, the county medical
examiner or his or her designee shall, in a timely manner as
prescribed under subsection (2), contact Michigan's federally
designated organ procurement organization or its successor
organization. If contacted by the federally designated organ
procurement organization or the eye and tissue organization, or
both, the county medical examiner shall enter into an agreement
with the federally designated organ procurement organization and
the eye and tissue organization that coordinates the recovery and
allocation of anatomical donations in that county. The agreement
shall outline the procedures and protocols of each party to assure
that transplantable organs, tissues, and eyes are obtained from
potential donors. The agreement shall provide that if any
extraordinary medical examinations are necessary prior to the
removal of organs, tissues, or eyes, the organization shall cover
those costs. The county medical examiner or his or her designee may
release any information to the federally designated organ
procurement organization or eye and tissue organization that is
necessary to identify potential organ, tissue, or eye donors and
seek consent for such donations in accordance with part 101 of the
public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.10101 to 333.10109. A
county medical examiner or his or her designee shall not discuss
the option of organ donation with any individual with the authority
to make a gift under section 10102 of the public health code, 1978
PA 368, MCL 333.10102.
(2) If an investigation of the cause and manner of death,
regardless of whether the death occurred in a hospital or not, is
required under this act and the county medical examiner or his or
her designee has notice that the individual is a donor or that a
gift of all or a physical part of that individual's body has been
made in accordance with part 101 of the public health code, 1978 PA
368, MCL 333.10101 to 333.10109, the county medical examiner or his
or her designee shall conduct the examination of the dead body
within a time period that permits organs, tissues, and eyes to
remain viable for transplant. If the county medical examiner or his
or her designee is unable to conduct the investigation within that
period of time, a health care professional who is authorized to
remove an anatomical gift from a donor may remove the donated
tissues or organs, or both, in order to preserve the viability of
the donated tissues or organs for transplant upon notifying the
county medical examiner or his or her designee. If the county
medical examiner or his or her designee determines that an organ
may be related to the cause of death, the county medical examiner
or his or her designee may do 1 or more of the following:
(a) Request to be present during the removal of the donated
organs.
(b) Request a biopsy of the donated organs.
(3) This section shall be known and may be cited as "Kyle Ray
Horning's law".