2005 Connecticut Code - Sec. 19a-279h. Rights and duties at death.

      Sec. 19a-279h. Rights and duties at death. (a) Rights of a donee created by an anatomical gift are superior to rights of others except with respect to autopsies under subsection (b) of section 19a-279j. A donee may accept or reject an anatomical gift. If a donee accepts an anatomical gift of an entire body, the donee, subject to the terms of the gift, may allow embalming and use of the body in funeral services. If the gift is of a part of a body, the donee, upon the death of the donor and before embalming, shall cause the part to be removed without unnecessary mutilation. After removal of the part, custody of the remainder of the body shall vest in the person under obligation to dispose of the body.

      (b) The time of death shall be determined by two physicians who attend the donor at death or, if none, the physicians who certify the death. Without limiting any other method of determining death, a donor may be pronounced dead if two physicians determine, in accordance with the usual and customary standards of medical practice, that the donor has suffered a total and irreversible cessation of all brain function. A total and irreversible cessation of all brain function shall mean that the heart and lungs of the donor cannot function, and are not functioning, without artificial supportive measures. Neither the physicians who attend the donor at death nor the physicians who determine the time of death may participate in the procedures for removing or transplanting a part unless the document of gift designates a particular physician or surgeon pursuant to subsection (d) of section 19a-279b.

      (P.A. 88-318, S. 8, 15.)