2006 Minnesota Statutes

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. If a body is taken to a morgue, the person who discovered the body
must notify the person's dispatcher. A dispatcher notified under this section must notify the
state's federally designated organ procurement organization and inform the organization of the
deceased's name, donor status, and location.
(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.
History: 1991 c 202 s 31; 2006 c 260 art 3 s 22