2005 Minnesota Statutes - 525.9214 — Routine inquiry and required request; search and notification.

     525.9214 Routine inquiry and required request; search 
  and notification. 


    (a) If, at or near the time of death of a patient, there is 
 no documentation in the medical record that the patient has made 
 or refused to make an anatomical gift, the hospital 
 administrator or a representative designated by the 
 administrator shall discuss with the patient or a relative of 
 the patient the option to make or refuse to make an anatomical 
 gift and may request the making of an anatomical gift pursuant 
 to section 525.9211 or 525.9212.  The request must be made with 
 reasonable discretion and sensitivity to the circumstances of 
 the family.  A request is not required if the gift is not 
 suitable, based upon accepted medical standards, for a purpose 
 specified in section 525.9215.  An entry must be made in the 
 medical record of the patient, stating the name of the 
 individual making the request, and the name, response, and 
 relationship to the patient of the person to whom the request 
 was made.  


    (b) The following persons shall make a reasonable search 
 for a document of gift or other information identifying the 
 bearer as a donor or as an individual who has refused to make an 
 anatomical gift: 


    (1) a law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, or 
 other emergency rescuer finding an individual who the searcher 
 believes is dead or near death; 


    (2) a hospital or emergency care facility, upon the 
 admission or presentation of an individual at or near the time 
 of death, if there is not immediately available any other source 
 of that information; and 


    (3) a medical examiner or coroner upon receipt of a body. 


    (c) If a document of gift or evidence of refusal to make an 
 anatomical gift is located by the search required by paragraph 
 (b), clause (1), and the individual or body to whom it relates 
 is taken to a hospital, the hospital must be notified of the 
 contents and the document or other evidence must be sent to the 
 hospital. 


    (d) If, at or near the time of death of a patient, a 
 hospital knows that an anatomical gift has been made pursuant to 
 section 525.9212, paragraph (a), or a release and removal of a 
 part has been permitted pursuant to section 525.9213, or that a 
 patient or an individual identified as in transit to the 
 hospital is a donor, the hospital shall notify the donee if one 
 is named and known to the hospital; if not, it shall notify an 
 appropriate procurement organization.  The hospital shall 
 cooperate in the implementation of the anatomical gift or 
 release and removal of a part. 


    (e) A person who fails to discharge the duties imposed by 
 this section is not subject to criminal or civil liability.  


    HIST: 1991 c 202 s 31