2013 Maryland Code
HEALTH - GENERAL
§ 5-408 - Buying, selling, or transporting bodies

§5-408.

(a) (1) A person may not sell or buy any body or any part of a body that is under the exclusive control of the Board.

(2) A person other than a nonprofit organization that qualifies under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, may not sell, buy, or act as a broker for a profit in the transfer of any human organ that:

(i) Is removed from a human body that is alive or dead at the time of removal; and

(ii) Is not under the exclusive control of the Board.

(3) In this section, “human organ” does not include blood and plasma.

(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection, a person may not send, transport, or permit or cause to be sent or transported out of the State any body or any part of a body that is under the exclusive control of the Board.

(2) The Board may authorize, by regulation, the transporting of human specimens under its exclusive control to an out-of-state medical study program, provided that:

(i) The needs of the schools of the State are met;

(ii) The requesting party demonstrates the need for a specimen;

(iii) The circumstances of the request are that:

1. No other sufficient source of specimens within the requesting state exists; or

2. A preexisting organ tissue donation was made by an individual in compliance with the Maryland Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act;

(iv) The requesting party bears the responsibility for transporting and the specialized care of the specimen and all associated costs; and

(v) The Board retains the right of exclusive control of the specimen including the final disposition when appropriate or necessary to fulfill an obligation to return the remains of a donated specimen to the donor’s family.

(3) The Board may authorize a physician, teacher, demonstrator, or investigator of advanced human biological sciences to send or transport human specimens out of the State for use by medical study programs.

§ 5-408 - 1. Disposition of body by will

Except as provided in § 5-408 (a) (2) of this subtitle, this subtitle does not deny the right of a donor to provide by last will and testament or by contract for the ultimate disposition and repose of the donor's last remains.