7150. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Uniform
Anatomical Gift Act.
7150.10. (a) As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Adult" means an individual who is at least 18 years of age.
(2) "Agent" means an individual who meets either of the following
criteria:
(A) He or she is authorized to make health care decisions on the
principal's behalf by a power of attorney for health care.
(B) He or she is expressly authorized to make an anatomical gift
on the principal's behalf by any other record signed by the
principal.
(3) "Anatomical gift" means a donation of all or part of a human
body to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of
transplantation, therapy, research, or education.
(4) "Decedent" means a deceased individual whose body or part is
or may be the source of an anatomical gift. The term includes a
stillborn infant and, subject to restrictions imposed by law other
than this chapter, a fetus.
(5) "Disinterested witness" means a witness other than the spouse,
child, parent, sibling, grandchild, grandparent, or guardian of the
individual who makes, amends, revokes, or refuses to make an
anatomical gift, or another adult who exhibited special care and
concern for the individual. The term does not include a person to
which an anatomical gift could pass under Section 7150.50.
(6) "Document of gift" means a donor card or other record used to
make an anatomical gift. The term includes a statement recorded on
the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry or other
donor registry.
(6.5) "Domestic partner" means a person who is registered under
Section 297 of the Family Code, or otherwise recognized under the law
of any state as a domestic partner.
(7) "Donor" means an individual whose body or part is the subject
of an anatomical gift.
(8) "Donor registry" means a database that contains records of
anatomical gifts and amendments to or revocations of anatomical
gifts, including, but not limited to, the Donate Life California
Organ and Tissue Donor Registry.
(9) "Driver's license" means a license or permit issued by the
Department of Motor Vehicles to operate a vehicle, whether or not
conditions are attached to the license or permit.
(10) "Eye bank" means a person that is licensed, accredited, or
regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery,
screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of human
eyes or portions of human eyes.
(11) "Guardian" means a person appointed by a court to make
decisions regarding the support, care, education, health, or welfare
of an individual. The term does not include a guardian ad litem.
(12) "Hospital" means a facility licensed as a hospital under the
law of any state or a facility operated as a hospital by the United
States, a state, or a subdivision of a state.
(13) "Identification card" means an identification card issued by
the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(14) "Know" means to have actual knowledge.
(15) "Minor" means an individual who is under 18 years of age.
(16) "Organ procurement organization" means a person designated by
the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human
Services as an organ procurement organization.
(17) "Parent" means a parent whose parental rights have not been
terminated.
(18) "Part" means an organ, an eye, or tissue of a human being.
The term does not include the whole body.
(19) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust,
estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association,
joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or
commercial entity.
(20) "Physician" means an individual authorized to practice
medicine or osteopathy under the law of any state.
(21) "Procurement organization" means an eye bank, organ
procurement organization, or tissue bank.
(22) "Prospective donor" means an individual who is dead or near
death and has been determined by a procurement organization to have a
part that could be medically suitable for transplantation, therapy,
research, or education. The term does not include an individual who
has made a refusal.
(23) "Reasonably available" means able to be contacted by a
procurement organization, without undue effort, and willing and able
to act in a timely manner consistent with existing medical criteria
necessary for the making of an anatomical gift.
(24) "Recipient" means an individual into whose body a decedent's
part has been, or is intended to be, transplanted.
(25) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible
medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is
retrievable in perceivable form.
(26) "Refusal" means a record created under Section 7150.30 that
expressly states an intent to bar other persons from making an
anatomical gift of an individual's body or part.
(27) "Sign" means, to do either of the following with the present
intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
(A) Execute or adopt a tangible symbol.
(B) Attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic
symbol, sound, or process.
(28) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any
territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States.
(29) "Technician" means an individual determined to be qualified
to remove or process parts by an appropriate organization that is
licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law. The
term includes an enucleator.
(30) "Tissue" means a portion of the human body other than an
organ or an eye. The term does not include blood, unless a blood
sample is needed for the purpose of research or education.
(31) "Tissue bank" means a person that is licensed, accredited, or
regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery,
screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of tissue.
(32) "Transplant hospital" means a hospital that furnishes organ
transplants and other medical and surgical specialty services
required for the care of transplant patients.
(b) This chapter applies to an anatomical gift or amendment to,
revocation of, or refusal to make an anatomical gift, whenever made.
7150.15. Subject to Section 7150.35, an anatomical gift of a donor'
s body or part may be made during the life of the donor for the
purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education in the
manner provided in Section 7150.20 by any of the following
individuals:
(a) The donor, if the donor is an adult or if the donor is a minor
and is either of the following:
(1) An emancipated minor.
(2) Between 15 and 18 years of age, only upon the written consent
of a parent or guardian.
(b) An agent of the donor, provided that the power of attorney for
health care or other record expressly permits the agent to make an
anatomical gift.
7150.20. (a) A donor may make an anatomical gift through any of the
following:
(1) By authorizing a statement or symbol indicating that the donor
has made an anatomical gift to be imprinted on the donor's driver's
license or identification card and included on a donor database
registry.
(2) Directly through the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue
Donor Registry Internet Web site.
(3) In a will.
(4) During a terminal illness or injury of the donor, by any form
of communication that clearly expresses the donor's wish, addressed
to at least two adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested
witness. The witnesses shall memorialize this communication in a
writing and sign and date the writing.
(5) As provided in subdivision (b).
(b) A donor or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift
under Section 7150.15 may make a gift by a donor card or other record
signed by the donor or other person making the gift or by
authorizing that a statement or symbol, indicating that the donor has
made an anatomical gift, be included on a donor registry. If the
donor or other person is physically unable to sign a record, the
record may be signed by another individual at the direction of the
donor or other person and shall comply with all of the following:
(1) Be witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of whom is a
disinterested witness, who have signed at the request of the donor
or the other person.
(2) State that it has been signed and witnessed as provided in
paragraph (1).
(c) Revocation, suspension, expiration, or cancellation of a
driver's license or identification card upon which an anatomical gift
is indicated does not invalidate the gift.
(d) An anatomical gift made by will takes effect upon the donor's
death whether or not the will is probated. Invalidation of the will
after the donor's death does not invalidate the gift.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (i) of Section 7150.65, a document
of gift may designate a particular physician to carry out the
recovery procedures. In the absence of this designation, or if the
designee is not reasonably available or is deemed by the organ
procurement organization not to be qualified to perform the required
procedure, the organ procurement organization may authorize another
physician or technician to carry out the recovery.
7150.25. (a) Subject to Section 7150.35, a donor or other person
authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section 7150.15 may amend
or revoke an anatomical gift by either of the following:
(1) A record signed by any of the following and recorded in a
donor registry database:
(A) The donor.
(B) The other person.
(C) Subject to subdivision (b), another individual acting at the
direction of the donor or of the other person, if the donor or other
person is physically unable to sign.
(2) A later-executed document of gift that amends or revokes a
previous anatomical gift or portion of an anatomical gift, either
expressly or by inconsistency.
(b) A record signed pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a) shall comply with all of the following:
(1) It shall be witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of
whom is a disinterested witness, who have signed at the request of
the donor or the other person.
(2) It shall state that it has been signed and witnessed as
provided in paragraph (1).
(c) Subject to Section 7150.35, a donor or other person authorized
to make an anatomical gift under Section 7150.15 may revoke an
anatomical gift by the destruction of the document of gift or
cancellation of the document of gift on a donor database registry, or
the portion of the document of gift used to make the gift, with the
intent to revoke the gift.
(d) A donor may amend or revoke an anatomical gift that was not
made in a will by any form of communication during a terminal illness
or injury addressed to at least two adults, at least one of whom is
a disinterested witness. The witnesses shall memorialize this
communication in a writing and sign and date the writing.
(e) A donor who makes an anatomical gift in a will may amend or
revoke the gift in the manner provided for amendment or revocation of
wills or as provided in subdivision (a).
7150.30. (a) An individual may refuse to make an anatomical gift of
the individual's body or part by any of the following:
(1) A record signed by either of the following:
(A) The individual.
(B) Subject to subdivision (b), another individual acting at the
direction of the individual if the individual is physically unable to
sign.
(2) The individual's will, whether or not the will is admitted to
probate or invalidated after the individual's death.
(3) Any form of communication made by the individual during the
individual's terminal illness or injury addressed to at least two
adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested witness. The
witnesses shall memorialize this communication in a writing and sign
and date the writing.
(b) A record signed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a) shall comply with both of the following:
(1) It shall be witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of
whom is a disinterested witness, who have signed at the request of
the individual.
(2) It shall state that it has been signed and witnessed as
provided in paragraph (1).
(c) An individual who has made a refusal may amend or revoke the
refusal by any of the following:
(1) In the manner provided in subdivision (a) for making a
refusal.
(2) By subsequently making an anatomical gift pursuant to Section
7150.20 that is inconsistent with the refusal.
(3) By destroying or canceling the record evidencing the refusal,
or the portion of the record used to make the refusal, with the
intent to revoke the refusal.
(d) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (h) of Section
7150.35, in the absence of an express, contrary indication by the
individual set forth in the refusal, an individual's unrevoked
refusal to make an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part
bars all other persons from making an anatomical gift of the
individual's body or part.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, including, but
not limited to, Section 7150.40, only an individual shall make an
anatomical gift of all or part of that individual's body or
pacemaker, if it is made known that the individual, at the time of
death, was a member of a religion, church, sect, or denomination that
relies solely upon prayer for healing of disease or that has
religious tenets that would be violated by the disposition of the
human body or parts or pacemakers for the purposes of
transplantation, therapy, research, or education.
7150.35. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (g) and
subject to subdivision (f), in the absence of an express, contrary
indication by the donor, a person other than the donor is barred from
making, amending, or revoking an anatomical gift of a donor's body
or part if the donor made an anatomical gift of the donor's body or
part under Section 7150.20 or an amendment to an anatomical gift of
the donor's body or part under Section 7150.25.
(b) A donor's revocation of an anatomical gift of the donor's body
or part under Section 7150.25 is not a refusal and does not bar
another person specified in Section 7150.15 or 7150.40 from making an
anatomical gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.20 or
7150.45.
(c) If a person other than the donor makes an unrevoked anatomical
gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.20 or an
amendment to an anatomical gift of the donor's body or part under
Section 7150.25, another person may not make, amend, or revoke the
gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.45.
(d) A revocation of an anatomical gift of a donor's body or part
under Section 7150.25 by a person other than the donor does not bar
another person from making an anatomical gift of the body or part
under Section 7150.20 or 7150.45.
(e) In the absence of an express, contrary indication by the donor
or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section
7150.15, an anatomical gift of a part is neither a refusal to give
another part nor a limitation on the making of an anatomical gift of
another part at a later time by the donor or another person.
(f) In the absence of an express, contrary indication by the donor
or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section
7150.15, an anatomical gift of a part for one or more of the purposes
set forth in Section 7150.15 is not a limitation on the making of an
anatomical gift of the part for any of the other purposes by the
donor or any other person under Section 7150.20 or 7150.45.
(g) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an individual who is between
15 and 18 years of age may make an anatomical gift for any purpose
authorized in this chapter, may limit an anatomical gift to one or
more of those purposes, may refuse to make an anatomical gift, or may
amend or revoke an anatomical gift, only upon the written consent of
the parent or guardian. If a donor who is an unemancipated minor
dies, a parent of the donor who is reasonably available may revoke or
amend an anatomical gift of the donor's body or part.
7150.40. (a) Subject to subdivisions (b) and (c), and unless barred
by Section 7150.30 or 7150.35, an anatomical gift of a decedent's
body or part for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research,
or education may be made by any member of the following classes of
persons who is reasonably available, in the following order of
priority:
(1) An agent of the decedent at the time of death who could have
made an anatomical gift under subdivision (b) of Section 7150.15
immediately before the decedent's death.
(2) The spouse or domestic partner of the decedent.
(3) Adult children of the decedent.
(4) Parents of the decedent.
(5) Adult siblings of the decedent.
(6) Adult grandchildren of the decedent.
(7) Grandparents of the decedent.
(8) An adult who exhibited special care and concern for the
decedent during the decedent's lifetime.
(9) The persons who were acting as the guardians or conservators
of the person of the decedent at the time of death.
(10) (A) Any other person having the authority to dispose of the
decedent's body, including, but not limited to, a coroner, medical
examiner, or hospital administrator, provided that reasonable effort
has been made to locate and inform persons listed in paragraphs (1)
to (9), inclusive, of their option to make, or object to making, an
anatomical gift.
(B) Except in the case where the useful life of the part does not
permit, a reasonable effort shall be deemed to have been made when a
search for the persons has been underway for at least 12 hours. The
search shall include a check of local police missing persons records,
examination of personal effects, and the questioning of any persons
visiting the decedent before his or her death or in the hospital,
accompanying the decedent's body, or reporting the death, in order to
obtain information that might lead to the location of any persons
listed.
(b) If there is more than one member of a class listed in
paragraph (1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), or (9) of subdivision (a)
entitled to make an anatomical gift, an anatomical gift may be made
by a member of the class unless that member or a person to which the
gift may pass under Section 7150.50 knows of an objection by another
member of the class. If an objection is known, the gift may be made
only by a majority of the members of the class who are reasonably
available.
(c) A person shall not make an anatomical gift if, at the time of
the decedent's death, a person in a prior class under subdivision (a)
is reasonably available to make, or to object to the making of, an
anatomical gift.
7150.45. (a) A person authorized to make an anatomical gift under
Section 7150.40 may make an anatomical gift by a document of gift
signed by the person making the gift or by that person's oral
communication that is electronically recorded or is contemporaneously
reduced to a record and signed by the individual receiving the oral
communication.
(b) Subject to subdivision (c), an anatomical gift by a person
authorized under Section 7150.40 may be amended or revoked orally or
in a record by any member of a prior class who is reasonably
available. If more than one member of the prior class is reasonably
available, the gift made by a person authorized under Section 7150.40
may be amended or revoked as follows:
(1) Amended only if a majority of the reasonably available members
agree to the amending of the gift.
(2) Revoked only if a majority of the reasonably available members
agree to the revoking of the gift or if they are equally divided as
to whether to revoke the gift.
(c) A revocation under subdivision (b) is effective only if,
before an incision has been made to remove a part from the donor's
body or before invasive procedures have begun to prepare the
recipient, the procurement organization, transplant hospital, or
physician or technician knows of the revocation.
7150.50. (a) An anatomical gift may be made to any of the following
persons named in the document of gift:
(1) A hospital, accredited medical school, dental school, college,
university, or organ procurement organization, for research or
education.
(2) Subject to subdivision (b), an individual designated by the
person making the anatomical gift if the individual is the recipient
of the part.
(3) An eye bank, or tissue bank.
(b) If an anatomical gift to an individual under paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) cannot be transplanted into the individual, the part
passes in accordance with subdivision (g) in the absence of an
express, contrary indication by the person making the anatomical
gift.
(c) If an anatomical gift of one or more specific parts, or of all
parts, is made in a document of gift that does not name a person
described in subdivision (a) but identifies the purpose for which an
anatomical gift may be used, all of the following rules shall apply:
(1) If the part is an eye and the gift is for the purpose of
transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate eye
bank.
(2) If the part is tissue and the gift is for the purpose of
transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate tissue
bank.
(3) If the part is an organ and the gift is for the purpose of
transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate organ
procurement organization as custodian of the organ.
(4) If the part is an organ, an eye, or tissue and the gift is for
the purpose of research or education, the gift passes to the
appropriate procurement organization.
(d) For the purpose of subdivision (c), if there is more than one
purpose of an anatomical gift set forth in the document of gift but
the purposes are not set forth in any priority, the gift shall be
used for transplantation or therapy, if suitable. If the gift cannot
be used for transplantation or therapy, the gift may be used for
research or education.
(e) If an anatomical gift of one or more specific parts is made in
a document of gift that does not name a person described in
subdivision (a) and does not identify the purpose of the gift, the
gift shall be used only for transplantation or therapy, and the gift
passes in accordance with subdivision (g).
(f) If a document of gift specifies only a general intent to make
an anatomical gift by words such as "donor," "organ donor," or "body
donor," or by a symbol or statement of similar import, the gift may
be used for transplantation, therapy, research, or education, and the
gift passes in accordance with subdivision (g).
(g) For purposes of subdivisions (b), (e), and (f) all of the
following rules shall apply:
(1) If the part is an eye, the gift passes to the appropriate eye
bank.
(2) If the part is tissue, the gift passes to the appropriate
tissue bank.
(3) If the part is an organ, the gift passes to the appropriate
organ procurement organization as custodian of the organ.
(h) An anatomical gift of an organ for transplantation or therapy,
other than an anatomical gift under paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a), passes to the organ procurement organization as custodian of the
organ.
(i) If an anatomical gift does not pass pursuant to subdivisions
(a) to (h), inclusive, or the decedent's body or part is not used for
transplantation, therapy, research, or education, custody of the
body or part passes to the person under obligation to dispose of the
body or part.
(j) A person shall not accept an anatomical gift if the person
knows that the gift was not effectively made under Section 7150.20 or
7150.45 or if the person knows that the decedent made a refusal
under Section 7150.30 that was not revoked. For purposes of this
subdivision, if a person knows that an anatomical gift was made on a
document of gift, the person is deemed to know of any amendment or
revocation of the gift or any refusal to make an anatomical gift on
the same document of gift.
(k) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a), nothing in this chapter affects the allocation of organs for
transplantation or therapy.
7150.55. (a) All of the following persons shall make a reasonable
search of an individual who the person reasonably believes is dead or
near death for a document of gift or other information identifying
the individual as a donor or as an individual who made a refusal:
(1) A law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, or other
emergency rescuer finding the individual.
(2) If no other source of the information is immediately
available, a hospital, as soon as practical after the individual's
arrival at the hospital.
(b) If a document of gift or a refusal to make an anatomical gift
is located by the search required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (a)
and the individual or deceased individual to whom it relates is
taken to a hospital, the person responsible for conducting the search
shall send the document of gift or refusal to the hospital.
(c) A person is not subject to criminal or civil liability for
failing to discharge the duties imposed by this section, but may be
subject to administrative sanctions.
7150.60. (a) A document of gift need not be delivered during the
donor's lifetime to be effective.
(b) Upon or after an individual's death, a person in possession of
a document of gift or a refusal to make an anatomical gift with
respect to the individual shall allow examination and copying of the
document of gift or refusal by a person authorized to make or object
to the making of an anatomical gift with respect to the individual or
by a person to which the gift could pass under Section 7150.50.
7150.65. (a) When a hospital refers an individual at or near death
to a procurement organization, the organization shall make a
reasonable search of the records of the Donate Life California Organ
and Tissue Donor Registry and any donor registry that it knows exists
for the geographical area in which the individual resides to
ascertain whether the individual has made an anatomical gift.
(b) A procurement organization shall be allowed reasonable access
to information in the records of the Donate Life California Organ and
Tissue Donor Registry to ascertain whether an individual who is at
or near death is a donor. Personally identifiable information on a
donor registry about a donor shall not be used or disclosed without
the express consent of the donor or the person that made the
anatomical gift for any purpose other than to determine, at or near
death of the donor or a prospective donor, whether the donor or
prospective donor has made, amended, or revoked an anatomical gift. A
procurement organization shall not sell the information obtained
from the donor registry. A procurement organization shall also comply
with all state and federal laws with respect to the protection of a
donor's or prospective donor's personally identifiable information.
(c) When a hospital refers an individual at or near death to a
procurement organization, the organization may conduct any reasonable
examination necessary to ensure the medical suitability of a part
that is or could be the subject of an anatomical gift for
transplantation, therapy, research, or education from a donor or a
prospective donor. During the examination period, measures necessary
to ensure the medical suitability of the part may not be withdrawn
unless the hospital or procurement organization knows that the
individual expressed a contrary intent.
(d) Unless prohibited by law other than this chapter, at any time
after a donor's death, the person to which a part passes under
Section 7150.50 may conduct any reasonable examination necessary to
ensure the medical suitability of the body or part for its intended
purpose.
(e) Unless prohibited by law other than this chapter, an
examination under subdivision (c) or (d) may include an examination
of all medical and dental records of the donor or prospective donor.
(f) Upon the death of a minor who was a donor or had signed a
refusal, unless a procurement organization knows the minor is
emancipated, the procurement organization shall conduct a reasonable
search for the parents of the minor and provide the parents with an
opportunity to revoke or amend the anatomical gift or revoke the
refusal.
(g) Upon referral by a hospital under subdivision (a), a
procurement organization shall make a reasonable search for any
person listed in Section 7150.40 having priority to make an
anatomical gift on behalf of a prospective donor. If a procurement
organization receives information that an anatomical gift to any
other person was made, amended, or revoked, it shall promptly advise
the other person of all relevant information.
(h) Subject to subdivision (i) of Section 7150.50, and Section
7151.20, the rights of the person to which a part passes under
Section 7150.50 are superior to the rights of all others with respect
to the part. The person may accept or reject an anatomical gift in
whole or in part. Subject to the terms of the document of gift and
this chapter, a person that accepts an anatomical gift of an entire
body may allow embalming, burial, or cremation, and use of remains in
a funeral service. If the gift is of a part, the person to which the
part passes under Section 7150.50, upon the death of the donor and
before embalming, burial, or cremation, shall cause the part to be
removed without unnecessary mutilation.
(i) Except as provided in subdivision (e) of Section 7150.20,
neither the physician who attends the decedent at death nor the
physician who determines the time of the decedent's death may
participate in the procedures for removing or transplanting a part
from the decedent.
(j) A physician or technician may remove a donated part from the
body of a donor that the physician or technician is qualified to
remove.
7150.70. Each hospital in this state shall enter into agreements or
affiliations with procurement organizations for coordination of
procurement and use of anatomical gifts.
7150.75. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), a
person that, for valuable consideration, knowingly purchases or sells
a part for transplantation or therapy, if removal of a part from an
individual is intended to occur after the individual's death, is
guilty of a felony and is subject to a fine not exceeding fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000), or imprisonment not exceeding five years,
or both the fine and imprisonment.
(b) A person may charge a reasonable amount for the removal,
processing, preservation, quality control, storage, transportation,
implantation, or disposal of a part.
7150.80. (a) A person that acts in accordance with this chapter or
with the applicable anatomical gift law of another state, or attempts
in good faith to do so, is not liable for the act in a civil action
or criminal prosecution.
(b) Neither the person making an anatomical gift nor the donor's
estate is liable for any injury or damage that results from the
making or use of the gift.
(c) In determining whether an anatomical gift has been made,
amended, or revoked under this chapter, a person may rely upon
representations of an individual listed in paragraphs (2) to (8),
inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 7150.40 relating to the
individual's relationship to the donor or prospective donor, unless
the person knows that the representation is untrue.
7150.85. (a) A document of gift is valid if executed in accordance
with any of the following:
(1) This chapter.
(2) The laws of the state or country where it was executed.
(3) The laws of the state or country where the person making the
anatomical gift was domiciled, has a place of residence, or was a
national at the time the document of gift was executed.
(b) If a document of gift is valid under this section, the law of
this state governs the interpretation of the document of gift.
(c) A person may presume that a document of gift or amendment of
an anatomical gift is valid unless that person knows that it was not
validly executed, or that it was revoked.
7150.90. (a) The California organ procurement organizations
designated pursuant to Section 273 and following Title 42 of the
United States Code, are hereby authorized to establish a
not-for-profit entity that shall be designated the California Organ
and Tissue Donor Registrar, which shall establish and maintain the
California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, to be known as the Donate
Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. The registry shall
contain information regarding persons who have identified themselves
as organ and tissue donors upon their death. The registrar shall be
responsible for developing methods to increase the number of donors
who enroll in the registry.
(b) The registrar shall make available to the federally designated
organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in California and the state
licensed tissue and eye banks information contained in the registry
regarding potential donors on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week
basis. This information shall be used to expedite a match between
identified organ and tissue donors and potential recipients.
(c) The registrar may receive voluntary contributions to support
the registry and its activities.
(d) The registrar shall submit an annual written report to the
State Public Health Officer and the Legislature that includes all of
the following:
(1) The number of donors on the registry.
(2) The changes in the number of donors on the registry.
(3) The general characteristics of donors as may be determined by
information provided on the donor registry forms pursuant to Sections
12811 and 13005 of the Vehicle Code.
7151.10. (a) As used in this section the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Advance health care directive" means a power of attorney for
health care or a record signed by a prospective donor containing the
prospective donor's direction concerning a health care decision for
the prospective donor.
(2) "Declaration" means a record signed by a prospective donor
specifying the circumstances under which a life-support system may be
withheld or withdrawn from the prospective donor.
(3) "Health care decision" means any decision made regarding the
health care of the prospective donor.
(b) If a prospective donor has a declaration or advance health
care directive and the terms of the declaration or directive and the
express or implied terms of a potential anatomical gift are in
conflict with regard to the administration of measures necessary to
ensure the medical suitability of a part for transplantation or
therapy, the prospective donor's attending physician and prospective
donor shall confer to resolve the conflict. If the prospective donor
is incapable of resolving the conflict, an agent acting under the
prospective donor's declaration or directive, or, if none, or the
agent is not reasonably available, another person authorized by law
other than this chapter to make health care decisions on behalf of
the prospective donor, shall act for the donor to resolve the
conflict. The conflict shall be resolved as expeditiously as
possible. Information relevant to the resolution of the conflict may
be obtained from the appropriate procurement organization and any
other person authorized to make an anatomical gift for the
prospective donor under Section 7150.40. Before resolution of the
conflict, measures necessary to ensure the medical suitability of the
part shall not be withheld or withdrawn from the prospective donor
if withholding or withdrawing the measures is not contraindicated by
appropriate end-of-life care.
7151.15. (a) A county coroner shall cooperate with procurement
organizations to maximize the opportunity to recover anatomical gifts
for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education.
(b) If a county coroner receives notice from a procurement
organization that an anatomical gift might be available or was made
with respect to a decedent whose body is under the jurisdiction of
the coroner and a post mortem examination is going to be performed,
unless the coroner denies recovery in accordance with Section
7151.20, the coroner or designee shall conduct a post mortem
examination of the body or the part in a manner and within a period
compatible with its preservation for the purposes of the gift.
(c) A part shall not be removed from the body of a decedent under
the jurisdiction of a coroner for transplantation, therapy, research,
or education unless the part is the subject of an anatomical gift.
The body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the coroner shall
not be delivered to a person for research or education unless the
body is the subject of an anatomical gift. This subdivision does not
preclude a coroner from performing the medico legal investigation
upon the body or parts of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the
coroner.
7151.20. (a) On request from a qualified procurement organization,
the county coroner may permit the removal of organs that constitute
an anatomical gift from a decedent who died under circumstances
requiring an inquest by the coroner.
(b) If no autopsy is required, the organs to be removed may be
released to the qualified procurement organization.
(c) If an autopsy is required and the county coroner determines
that the removal of the organs will not interfere with the subsequent
course of an investigation or autopsy, the organs may be released
for removal. The autopsy shall be performed following the removal of
the organs.
(d) If a county coroner is considering withholding one or more
organs of a potential donor for any reason, the county coroner, or
his or her designee, upon request from a qualified organ procurement
organization, shall be present during the procedure to remove the
organs. The county coroner, or his or her designee, may request a
biopsy of those organs or deny removal of the organs if necessary. If
the county coroner, or his or her designee, denies removal of the
organs, the county coroner may do any of the following:
(1) In the investigative report, explain in writing the reasons
for the denial.
(2) Provide the explanation to the qualified organ procurement
organization.
(e) If the county coroner, or his or her designee, is present
during the removal of the organs, the qualified procurement
organization requesting the removal of the organ shall reimburse the
county of the coroner, or his or her designee, for the actual costs
incurred in performing the duty specified in subdivision (d), if
reimbursement is requested by the county coroner. The payment shall
be applied to the additional costs incurred by the county coroner's
office in performing the duty specified in subdivision (d).
(f) The health care professional removing organs from a decedent
who died under circumstances requiring an inquest shall file with the
county coroner a report detailing the condition of the organs
removed and their relationship, if any, to the cause of death.
7151.25. In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration
shall be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with
respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.
7151.30. This act modifies, limits, and supersedes the Electronic
Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001
et seq.), but does not modify, limit or supersede Section 101(a) of
that act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001), or authorize electronic delivery of
any of the notices described in Section 103(b) of that act (15 U.S.C.
Sec. 7003(b)).
7151.35. (a) No hospital, physician and surgeon, procurement
organization, or other person shall determine the ultimate recipient
of an anatomical gift based upon a potential recipient's physical or
mental disability, except to the extent that the physical or mental
disability has been found by a physician and surgeon, following a
case-by-case evaluation of the potential recipient, to be medically
significant to the provision of the anatomical gift.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall apply to each part of the organ
transplant process. The organ transplant process includes, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
(1) The referral from a primary care provider to a specialist.
(2) The referral from a specialist to a transplant center.
(3) The evaluation of the patient for the transplant by the
transplant center.
(4) The consideration of the patient for placement on the official
waiting list.
(c) A person with a physical or mental disability shall not be
required to demonstrate postoperative independent living abilities in
order to have access to a transplant if there is evidence that the
person will have sufficient, compensatory support and assistance.
(d) The court shall accord priority on its calendar and handle
expeditiously any action brought to seek any remedy authorized by law
for purposes of enforcing compliance with this section.
(e) This section shall not be deemed to require referrals or
recommendations for, or the performance of, medically inappropriate
organ transplants.
(f) As used in this section "disabilities" has the same meaning as
used in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq., P.L. 101-336).
7151.40. (a) If there has been an anatomical gift, a technician may
remove any donated parts and an enucleator may remove any donated
eyes or parts of eyes, after determination of death by a physician
and surgeon.
(b) Following the final disposition of the remains of the donor,
upon request of a person specified in Section 7100, the donee shall
return the cremated remains of the donor at no cost to the person
specified in Section 7100, unless the donor has previously designated
otherwise in the document of gift. A person who knowingly returns
the cremated remains of a person other than the donor to a person
specified in Section 7100 shall be punished by imprisonment in the
county jail for not more than one year.
(c) Residual anatomical materials and human remains donated to
hospitals, organ procurement organizations, accredited medical
schools, dental schools, colleges, or universities for educational,
research, transplantation, or therapeutic use that are no longer
useful or needed for those purposes, may be disposed of by those
entities through cremation, in the same manner as medical waste, and
without additional burial permit requirements if the donor has
specifically waived subdivision (b) of Section 7151.40.
7150. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Uniform
Anatomical Gift Act.
7150.10. (a) As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Adult" means an individual who is at least 18 years of age.
(2) "Agent" means an individual who meets either of the following
criteria:
(A) He or she is authorized to make health care decisions on the
principal's behalf by a power of attorney for health care.
(B) He or she is expressly authorized to make an anatomical gift
on the principal's behalf by any other record signed by the
principal.
(3) "Anatomical gift" means a donation of all or part of a human
body to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of
transplantation, therapy, research, or education.
(4) "Decedent" means a deceased individual whose body or part is
or may be the source of an anatomical gift. The term includes a
stillborn infant and, subject to restrictions imposed by law other
than this chapter, a fetus.
(5) "Disinterested witness" means a witness other than the spouse,
child, parent, sibling, grandchild, grandparent, or guardian of the
individual who makes, amends, revokes, or refuses to make an
anatomical gift, or another adult who exhibited special care and
concern for the individual. The term does not include a person to
which an anatomical gift could pass under Section 7150.50.
(6) "Document of gift" means a donor card or other record used to
make an anatomical gift. The term includes a statement recorded on
the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry or other
donor registry.
(6.5) "Domestic partner" means a person who is registered under
Section 297 of the Family Code, or otherwise recognized under the law
of any state as a domestic partner.
(7) "Donor" means an individual whose body or part is the subject
of an anatomical gift.
(8) "Donor registry" means a database that contains records of
anatomical gifts and amendments to or revocations of anatomical
gifts, including, but not limited to, the Donate Life California
Organ and Tissue Donor Registry.
(9) "Driver's license" means a license or permit issued by the
Department of Motor Vehicles to operate a vehicle, whether or not
conditions are attached to the license or permit.
(10) "Eye bank" means a person that is licensed, accredited, or
regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery,
screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of human
eyes or portions of human eyes.
(11) "Guardian" means a person appointed by a court to make
decisions regarding the support, care, education, health, or welfare
of an individual. The term does not include a guardian ad litem.
(12) "Hospital" means a facility licensed as a hospital under the
law of any state or a facility operated as a hospital by the United
States, a state, or a subdivision of a state.
(13) "Identification card" means an identification card issued by
the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(14) "Know" means to have actual knowledge.
(15) "Minor" means an individual who is under 18 years of age.
(16) "Organ procurement organization" means a person designated by
the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human
Services as an organ procurement organization.
(17) "Parent" means a parent whose parental rights have not been
terminated.
(18) "Part" means an organ, an eye, or tissue of a human being.
The term does not include the whole body.
(19) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust,
estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association,
joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or
commercial entity.
(20) "Physician" means an individual authorized to practice
medicine or osteopathy under the law of any state.
(21) "Procurement organization" means an eye bank, organ
procurement organization, or tissue bank.
(22) "Prospective donor" means an individual who is dead or near
death and has been determined by a procurement organization to have a
part that could be medically suitable for transplantation, therapy,
research, or education. The term does not include an individual who
has made a refusal.
(23) "Reasonably available" means able to be contacted by a
procurement organization, without undue effort, and willing and able
to act in a timely manner consistent with existing medical criteria
necessary for the making of an anatomical gift.
(24) "Recipient" means an individual into whose body a decedent's
part has been, or is intended to be, transplanted.
(25) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible
medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is
retrievable in perceivable form.
(26) "Refusal" means a record created under Section 7150.30 that
expressly states an intent to bar other persons from making an
anatomical gift of an individual's body or part.
(27) "Sign" means, to do either of the following with the present
intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
(A) Execute or adopt a tangible symbol.
(B) Attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic
symbol, sound, or process.
(28) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any
territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States.
(29) "Technician" means an individual determined to be qualified
to remove or process parts by an appropriate organization that is
licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law. The
term includes an enucleator.
(30) "Tissue" means a portion of the human body other than an
organ or an eye. The term does not include blood, unless a blood
sample is needed for the purpose of research or education.
(31) "Tissue bank" means a person that is licensed, accredited, or
regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery,
screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of tissue.
(32) "Transplant hospital" means a hospital that furnishes organ
transplants and other medical and surgical specialty services
required for the care of transplant patients.
(b) This chapter applies to an anatomical gift or amendment to,
revocation of, or refusal to make an anatomical gift, whenever made.
7150.15. Subject to Section 7150.35, an anatomical gift of a donor'
s body or part may be made during the life of the donor for the
purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education in the
manner provided in Section 7150.20 by any of the following
individuals:
(a) The donor, if the donor is an adult or if the donor is a minor
and is either of the following:
(1) An emancipated minor.
(2) Between 15 and 18 years of age, only upon the written consent
of a parent or guardian.
(b) An agent of the donor, provided that the power of attorney for
health care or other record expressly permits the agent to make an
anatomical gift.
7150.20. (a) A donor may make an anatomical gift through any of the
following:
(1) By authorizing a statement or symbol indicating that the donor
has made an anatomical gift to be imprinted on the donor's driver's
license or identification card and included on a donor database
registry.
(2) Directly through the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue
Donor Registry Internet Web site.
(3) In a will.
(4) During a terminal illness or injury of the donor, by any form
of communication that clearly expresses the donor's wish, addressed
to at least two adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested
witness. The witnesses shall memorialize this communication in a
writing and sign and date the writing.
(5) As provided in subdivision (b).
(b) A donor or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift
under Section 7150.15 may make a gift by a donor card or other record
signed by the donor or other person making the gift or by
authorizing that a statement or symbol, indicating that the donor has
made an anatomical gift, be included on a donor registry. If the
donor or other person is physically unable to sign a record, the
record may be signed by another individual at the direction of the
donor or other person and shall comply with all of the following:
(1) Be witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of whom is a
disinterested witness, who have signed at the request of the donor
or the other person.
(2) State that it has been signed and witnessed as provided in
paragraph (1).
(c) Revocation, suspension, expiration, or cancellation of a
driver's license or identification card upon which an anatomical gift
is indicated does not invalidate the gift.
(d) An anatomical gift made by will takes effect upon the donor's
death whether or not the will is probated. Invalidation of the will
after the donor's death does not invalidate the gift.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (i) of Section 7150.65, a document
of gift may designate a particular physician to carry out the
recovery procedures. In the absence of this designation, or if the
designee is not reasonably available or is deemed by the organ
procurement organization not to be qualified to perform the required
procedure, the organ procurement organization may authorize another
physician or technician to carry out the recovery.
7150.25. (a) Subject to Section 7150.35, a donor or other person
authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section 7150.15 may amend
or revoke an anatomical gift by either of the following:
(1) A record signed by any of the following and recorded in a
donor registry database:
(A) The donor.
(B) The other person.
(C) Subject to subdivision (b), another individual acting at the
direction of the donor or of the other person, if the donor or other
person is physically unable to sign.
(2) A later-executed document of gift that amends or revokes a
previous anatomical gift or portion of an anatomical gift, either
expressly or by inconsistency.
(b) A record signed pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a) shall comply with all of the following:
(1) It shall be witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of
whom is a disinterested witness, who have signed at the request of
the donor or the other person.
(2) It shall state that it has been signed and witnessed as
provided in paragraph (1).
(c) Subject to Section 7150.35, a donor or other person authorized
to make an anatomical gift under Section 7150.15 may revoke an
anatomical gift by the destruction of the document of gift or
cancellation of the document of gift on a donor database registry, or
the portion of the document of gift used to make the gift, with the
intent to revoke the gift.
(d) A donor may amend or revoke an anatomical gift that was not
made in a will by any form of communication during a terminal illness
or injury addressed to at least two adults, at least one of whom is
a disinterested witness. The witnesses shall memorialize this
communication in a writing and sign and date the writing.
(e) A donor who makes an anatomical gift in a will may amend or
revoke the gift in the manner provided for amendment or revocation of
wills or as provided in subdivision (a).
7150.30. (a) An individual may refuse to make an anatomical gift of
the individual's body or part by any of the following:
(1) A record signed by either of the following:
(A) The individual.
(B) Subject to subdivision (b), another individual acting at the
direction of the individual if the individual is physically unable to
sign.
(2) The individual's will, whether or not the will is admitted to
probate or invalidated after the individual's death.
(3) Any form of communication made by the individual during the
individual's terminal illness or injury addressed to at least two
adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested witness. The
witnesses shall memorialize this communication in a writing and sign
and date the writing.
(b) A record signed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a) shall comply with both of the following:
(1) It shall be witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of
whom is a disinterested witness, who have signed at the request of
the individual.
(2) It shall state that it has been signed and witnessed as
provided in paragraph (1).
(c) An individual who has made a refusal may amend or revoke the
refusal by any of the following:
(1) In the manner provided in subdivision (a) for making a
refusal.
(2) By subsequently making an anatomical gift pursuant to Section
7150.20 that is inconsistent with the refusal.
(3) By destroying or canceling the record evidencing the refusal,
or the portion of the record used to make the refusal, with the
intent to revoke the refusal.
(d) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (h) of Section
7150.35, in the absence of an express, contrary indication by the
individual set forth in the refusal, an individual's unrevoked
refusal to make an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part
bars all other persons from making an anatomical gift of the
individual's body or part.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, including, but
not limited to, Section 7150.40, only an individual shall make an
anatomical gift of all or part of that individual's body or
pacemaker, if it is made known that the individual, at the time of
death, was a member of a religion, church, sect, or denomination that
relies solely upon prayer for healing of disease or that has
religious tenets that would be violated by the disposition of the
human body or parts or pacemakers for the purposes of
transplantation, therapy, research, or education.
7150.35. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (g) and
subject to subdivision (f), in the absence of an express, contrary
indication by the donor, a person other than the donor is barred from
making, amending, or revoking an anatomical gift of a donor's body
or part if the donor made an anatomical gift of the donor's body or
part under Section 7150.20 or an amendment to an anatomical gift of
the donor's body or part under Section 7150.25.
(b) A donor's revocation of an anatomical gift of the donor's body
or part under Section 7150.25 is not a refusal and does not bar
another person specified in Section 7150.15 or 7150.40 from making an
anatomical gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.20 or
7150.45.
(c) If a person other than the donor makes an unrevoked anatomical
gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.20 or an
amendment to an anatomical gift of the donor's body or part under
Section 7150.25, another person may not make, amend, or revoke the
gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.45.
(d) A revocation of an anatomical gift of a donor's body or part
under Section 7150.25 by a person other than the donor does not bar
another person from making an anatomical gift of the body or part
under Section 7150.20 or 7150.45.
(e) In the absence of an express, contrary indication by the donor
or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section
7150.15, an anatomical gift of a part is neither a refusal to give
another part nor a limitation on the making of an anatomical gift of
another part at a later time by the donor or another person.
(f) In the absence of an express, contrary indication by the donor
or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section
7150.15, an anatomical gift of a part for one or more of the purposes
set forth in Section 7150.15 is not a limitation on the making of an
anatomical gift of the part for any of the other purposes by the
donor or any other person under Section 7150.20 or 7150.45.
(g) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an individual who is between
15 and 18 years of age may make an anatomical gift for any purpose
authorized in this chapter, may limit an anatomical gift to one or
more of those purposes, may refuse to make an anatomical gift, or may
amend or revoke an anatomical gift, only upon the written consent of
the parent or guardian. If a donor who is an unemancipated minor
dies, a parent of the donor who is reasonably available may revoke or
amend an anatomical gift of the donor's body or part.
7150.40. (a) Subject to subdivisions (b) and (c), and unless barred
by Section 7150.30 or 7150.35, an anatomical gift of a decedent's
body or part for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research,
or education may be made by any member of the following classes of
persons who is reasonably available, in the following order of
priority:
(1) An agent of the decedent at the time of death who could have
made an anatomical gift under subdivision (b) of Section 7150.15
immediately before the decedent's death.
(2) The spouse or domestic partner of the decedent.
(3) Adult children of the decedent.
(4) Parents of the decedent.
(5) Adult siblings of the decedent.
(6) Adult grandchildren of the decedent.
(7) Grandparents of the decedent.
(8) An adult who exhibited special care and concern for the
decedent during the decedent's lifetime.
(9) The persons who were acting as the guardians or conservators
of the person of the decedent at the time of death.
(10) (A) Any other person having the authority to dispose of the
decedent's body, including, but not limited to, a coroner, medical
examiner, or hospital administrator, provided that reasonable effort
has been made to locate and inform persons listed in paragraphs (1)
to (9), inclusive, of their option to make, or object to making, an
anatomical gift.
(B) Except in the case where the useful life of the part does not
permit, a reasonable effort shall be deemed to have been made when a
search for the persons has been underway for at least 12 hours. The
search shall include a check of local police missing persons records,
examination of personal effects, and the questioning of any persons
visiting the decedent before his or her death or in the hospital,
accompanying the decedent's body, or reporting the death, in order to
obtain information that might lead to the location of any persons
listed.
(b) If there is more than one member of a class listed in
paragraph (1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), or (9) of subdivision (a)
entitled to make an anatomical gift, an anatomical gift may be made
by a member of the class unless that member or a person to which the
gift may pass under Section 7150.50 knows of an objection by another
member of the class. If an objection is known, the gift may be made
only by a majority of the members of the class who are reasonably
available.
(c) A person shall not make an anatomical gift if, at the time of
the decedent's death, a person in a prior class under subdivision (a)
is reasonably available to make, or to object to the making of, an
anatomical gift.
7150.45. (a) A person authorized to make an anatomical gift under
Section 7150.40 may make an anatomical gift by a document of gift
signed by the person making the gift or by that person's oral
communication that is electronically recorded or is contemporaneously
reduced to a record and signed by the individual receiving the oral
communication.
(b) Subject to subdivision (c), an anatomical gift by a person
authorized under Section 7150.40 may be amended or revoked orally or
in a record by any member of a prior class who is reasonably
available. If more than one member of the prior class is reasonably
available, the gift made by a person authorized under Section 7150.40
may be amended or revoked as follows:
(1) Amended only if a majority of the reasonably available members
agree to the amending of the gift.
(2) Revoked only if a majority of the reasonably available members
agree to the revoking of the gift or if they are equally divided as
to whether to revoke the gift.
(c) A revocation under subdivision (b) is effective only if,
before an incision has been made to remove a part from the donor's
body or before invasive procedures have begun to prepare the
recipient, the procurement organization, transplant hospital, or
physician or technician knows of the revocation.
7150.50. (a) An anatomical gift may be made to any of the following
persons named in the document of gift:
(1) A hospital, accredited medical school, dental school, college,
university, or organ procurement organization, for research or
education.
(2) Subject to subdivision (b), an individual designated by the
person making the anatomical gift if the individual is the recipient
of the part.
(3) An eye bank, or tissue bank.
(b) If an anatomical gift to an individual under paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) cannot be transplanted into the individual, the part
passes in accordance with subdivision (g) in the absence of an
express, contrary indication by the person making the anatomical
gift.
(c) If an anatomical gift of one or more specific parts, or of all
parts, is made in a document of gift that does not name a person
described in subdivision (a) but identifies the purpose for which an
anatomical gift may be used, all of the following rules shall apply:
(1) If the part is an eye and the gift is for the purpose of
transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate eye
bank.
(2) If the part is tissue and the gift is for the purpose of
transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate tissue
bank.
(3) If the part is an organ and the gift is for the purpose of
transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate organ
procurement organization as custodian of the organ.
(4) If the part is an organ, an eye, or tissue and the gift is for
the purpose of research or education, the gift passes to the
appropriate procurement organization.
(d) For the purpose of subdivision (c), if there is more than one
purpose of an anatomical gift set forth in the document of gift but
the purposes are not set forth in any priority, the gift shall be
used for transplantation or therapy, if suitable. If the gift cannot
be used for transplantation or therapy, the gift may be used for
research or education.
(e) If an anatomical gift of one or more specific parts is made in
a document of gift that does not name a person described in
subdivision (a) and does not identify the purpose of the gift, the
gift shall be used only for transplantation or therapy, and the gift
passes in accordance with subdivision (g).
(f) If a document of gift specifies only a general intent to make
an anatomical gift by words such as "donor," "organ donor," or "body
donor," or by a symbol or statement of similar import, the gift may
be used for transplantation, therapy, research, or education, and the
gift passes in accordance with subdivision (g).
(g) For purposes of subdivisions (b), (e), and (f) all of the
following rules shall apply:
(1) If the part is an eye, the gift passes to the appropriate eye
bank.
(2) If the part is tissue, the gift passes to the appropriate
tissue bank.
(3) If the part is an organ, the gift passes to the appropriate
organ procurement organization as custodian of the organ.
(h) An anatomical gift of an organ for transplantation or therapy,
other than an anatomical gift under paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a), passes to the organ procurement organization as custodian of the
organ.
(i) If an anatomical gift does not pass pursuant to subdivisions
(a) to (h), inclusive, or the decedent's body or part is not used for
transplantation, therapy, research, or education, custody of the
body or part passes to the person under obligation to dispose of the
body or part.
(j) A person shall not accept an anatomical gift if the person
knows that the gift was not effectively made under Section 7150.20 or
7150.45 or if the person knows that the decedent made a refusal
under Section 7150.30 that was not revoked. For purposes of this
subdivision, if a person knows that an anatomical gift was made on a
document of gift, the person is deemed to know of any amendment or
revocation of the gift or any refusal to make an anatomical gift on
the same document of gift.
(k) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a), nothing in this chapter affects the allocation of organs for
transplantation or therapy.
7150.55. (a) All of the following persons shall make a reasonable
search of an individual who the person reasonably believes is dead or
near death for a document of gift or other information identifying
the individual as a donor or as an individual who made a refusal:
(1) A law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, or other
emergency rescuer finding the individual.
(2) If no other source of the information is immediately
available, a hospital, as soon as practical after the individual's
arrival at the hospital.
(b) If a document of gift or a refusal to make an anatomical gift
is located by the search required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (a)
and the individual or deceased individual to whom it relates is
taken to a hospital, the person responsible for conducting the search
shall send the document of gift or refusal to the hospital.
(c) A person is not subject to criminal or civil liability for
failing to discharge the duties imposed by this section, but may be
subject to administrative sanctions.
7150.60. (a) A document of gift need not be delivered during the
donor's lifetime to be effective.
(b) Upon or after an individual's death, a person in possession of
a document of gift or a refusal to make an anatomical gift with
respect to the individual shall allow examination and copying of the
document of gift or refusal by a person authorized to make or object
to the making of an anatomical gift with respect to the individual or
by a person to which the gift could pass under Section 7150.50.
7150.65. (a) When a hospital refers an individual at or near death
to a procurement organization, the organization shall make a
reasonable search of the records of the Donate Life California Organ
and Tissue Donor Registry and any donor registry that it knows exists
for the geographical area in which the individual resides to
ascertain whether the individual has made an anatomical gift.
(b) A procurement organization shall be allowed reasonable access
to information in the records of the Donate Life California Organ and
Tissue Donor Registry to ascertain whether an individual who is at
or near death is a donor. Personally identifiable information on a
donor registry about a donor shall not be used or disclosed without
the express consent of the donor or the person that made the
anatomical gift for any purpose other than to determine, at or near
death of the donor or a prospective donor, whether the donor or
prospective donor has made, amended, or revoked an anatomical gift. A
procurement organization shall not sell the information obtained
from the donor registry. A procurement organization shall also comply
with all state and federal laws with respect to the protection of a
donor's or prospective donor's personally identifiable information.
(c) When a hospital refers an individual at or near death to a
procurement organization, the organization may conduct any reasonable
examination necessary to ensure the medical suitability of a part
that is or could be the subject of an anatomical gift for
transplantation, therapy, research, or education from a donor or a
prospective donor. During the examination period, measures necessary
to ensure the medical suitability of the part may not be withdrawn
unless the hospital or procurement organization knows that the
individual expressed a contrary intent.
(d) Unless prohibited by law other than this chapter, at any time
after a donor's death, the person to which a part passes under
Section 7150.50 may conduct any reasonable examination necessary to
ensure the medical suitability of the body or part for its intended
purpose.
(e) Unless prohibited by law other than this chapter, an
examination under subdivision (c) or (d) may include an examination
of all medical and dental records of the donor or prospective donor.
(f) Upon the death of a minor who was a donor or had signed a
refusal, unless a procurement organization knows the minor is
emancipated, the procurement organization shall conduct a reasonable
search for the parents of the minor and provide the parents with an
opportunity to revoke or amend the anatomical gift or revoke the
refusal.
(g) Upon referral by a hospital under subdivision (a), a
procurement organization shall make a reasonable search for any
person listed in Section 7150.40 having priority to make an
anatomical gift on behalf of a prospective donor. If a procurement
organization receives information that an anatomical gift to any
other person was made, amended, or revoked, it shall promptly advise
the other person of all relevant information.
(h) Subject to subdivision (i) of Section 7150.50, and Section
7151.20, the rights of the person to which a part passes under
Section 7150.50 are superior to the rights of all others with respect
to the part. The person may accept or reject an anatomical gift in
whole or in part. Subject to the terms of the document of gift and
this chapter, a person that accepts an anatomical gift of an entire
body may allow embalming, burial, or cremation, and use of remains in
a funeral service. If the gift is of a part, the person to which the
part passes under Section 7150.50, upon the death of the donor and
before embalming, burial, or cremation, shall cause the part to be
removed without unnecessary mutilation.
(i) Except as provided in subdivision (e) of Section 7150.20,
neither the physician who attends the decedent at death nor the
physician who determines the time of the decedent's death may
participate in the procedures for removing or transplanting a part
from the decedent.
(j) A physician or technician may remove a donated part from the
body of a donor that the physician or technician is qualified to
remove.
7150.70. Each hospital in this state shall enter into agreements or
affiliations with procurement organizations for coordination of
procurement and use of anatomical gifts.
7150.75. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), a
person that, for valuable consideration, knowingly purchases or sells
a part for transplantation or therapy, if removal of a part from an
individual is intended to occur after the individual's death, is
guilty of a felony and is subject to a fine not exceeding fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000), or imprisonment not exceeding five years,
or both the fine and imprisonment.
(b) A person may charge a reasonable amount for the removal,
processing, preservation, quality control, storage, transportation,
implantation, or disposal of a part.
7150.80. (a) A person that acts in accordance with this chapter or
with the applicable anatomical gift law of another state, or attempts
in good faith to do so, is not liable for the act in a civil action
or criminal prosecution.
(b) Neither the person making an anatomical gift nor the donor's
estate is liable for any injury or damage that results from the
making or use of the gift.
(c) In determining whether an anatomical gift has been made,
amended, or revoked under this chapter, a person may rely upon
representations of an individual listed in paragraphs (2) to (8),
inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 7150.40 relating to the
individual's relationship to the donor or prospective donor, unless
the person knows that the representation is untrue.
7150.85. (a) A document of gift is valid if executed in accordance
with any of the following:
(1) This chapter.
(2) The laws of the state or country where it was executed.
(3) The laws of the state or country where the person making the
anatomical gift was domiciled, has a place of residence, or was a
national at the time the document of gift was executed.
(b) If a document of gift is valid under this section, the law of
this state governs the interpretation of the document of gift.
(c) A person may presume that a document of gift or amendment of
an anatomical gift is valid unless that person knows that it was not
validly executed, or that it was revoked.
7150.90. (a) The California organ procurement organizations
designated pursuant to Section 273 and following Title 42 of the
United States Code, are hereby authorized to establish a
not-for-profit entity that shall be designated the California Organ
and Tissue Donor Registrar, which shall establish and maintain the
California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, to be known as the Donate
Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. The registry shall
contain information regarding persons who have identified themselves
as organ and tissue donors upon their death. The registrar shall be
responsible for developing methods to increase the number of donors
who enroll in the registry.
(b) The registrar shall make available to the federally designated
organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in California and the state
licensed tissue and eye banks information contained in the registry
regarding potential donors on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week
basis. This information shall be used to expedite a match between
identified organ and tissue donors and potential recipients.
(c) The registrar may receive voluntary contributions to support
the registry and its activities.
(d) The registrar shall submit an annual written report to the
State Public Health Officer and the Legislature that includes all of
the following:
(1) The number of donors on the registry.
(2) The changes in the number of donors on the registry.
(3) The general characteristics of donors as may be determined by
information provided on the donor registry forms pursuant to Sections
12811 and 13005 of the Vehicle Code.
7151.10. (a) As used in this section the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Advance health care directive" means a power of attorney for
health care or a record signed by a prospective donor containing the
prospective donor's direction concerning a health care decision for
the prospective donor.
(2) "Declaration" means a record signed by a prospective donor
specifying the circumstances under which a life-support system may be
withheld or withdrawn from the prospective donor.
(3) "Health care decision" means any decision made regarding the
health care of the prospective donor.
(b) If a prospective donor has a declaration or advance health
care directive and the terms of the declaration or directive and the
express or implied terms of a potential anatomical gift are in
conflict with regard to the administration of measures necessary to
ensure the medical suitability of a part for transplantation or
therapy, the prospective donor's attending physician and prospective
donor shall confer to resolve the conflict. If the prospective donor
is incapable of resolving the conflict, an agent acting under the
prospective donor's declaration or directive, or, if none, or the
agent is not reasonably available, another person authorized by law
other than this chapter to make health care decisions on behalf of
the prospective donor, shall act for the donor to resolve the
conflict. The conflict shall be resolved as expeditiously as
possible. Information relevant to the resolution of the conflict may
be obtained from the appropriate procurement organization and any
other person authorized to make an anatomical gift for the
prospective donor under Section 7150.40. Before resolution of the
conflict, measures necessary to ensure the medical suitability of the
part shall not be withheld or withdrawn from the prospective donor
if withholding or withdrawing the measures is not contraindicated by
appropriate end-of-life care.
7151.15. (a) A county coroner shall cooperate with procurement
organizations to maximize the opportunity to recover anatomical gifts
for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education.
(b) If a county coroner receives notice from a procurement
organization that an anatomical gift might be available or was made
with respect to a decedent whose body is under the jurisdiction of
the coroner and a post mortem examination is going to be performed,
unless the coroner denies recovery in accordance with Section
7151.20, the coroner or designee shall conduct a post mortem
examination of the body or the part in a manner and within a period
compatible with its preservation for the purposes of the gift.
(c) A part shall not be removed from the body of a decedent under
the jurisdiction of a coroner for transplantation, therapy, research,
or education unless the part is the subject of an anatomical gift.
The body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the coroner shall
not be delivered to a person for research or education unless the
body is the subject of an anatomical gift. This subdivision does not
preclude a coroner from performing the medico legal investigation
upon the body or parts of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the
coroner.
7151.20. (a) On request from a qualified procurement organization,
the county coroner may permit the removal of organs that constitute
an anatomical gift from a decedent who died under circumstances
requiring an inquest by the coroner.
(b) If no autopsy is required, the organs to be removed may be
released to the qualified procurement organization.
(c) If an autopsy is required and the county coroner determines
that the removal of the organs will not interfere with the subsequent
course of an investigation or autopsy, the organs may be released
for removal. The autopsy shall be performed following the removal of
the organs.
(d) If a county coroner is considering withholding one or more
organs of a potential donor for any reason, the county coroner, or
his or her designee, upon request from a qualified organ procurement
organization, shall be present during the procedure to remove the
organs. The county coroner, or his or her designee, may request a
biopsy of those organs or deny removal of the organs if necessary. If
the county coroner, or his or her designee, denies removal of the
organs, the county coroner may do any of the following:
(1) In the investigative report, explain in writing the reasons
for the denial.
(2) Provide the explanation to the qualified organ procurement
organization.
(e) If the county coroner, or his or her designee, is present
during the removal of the organs, the qualified procurement
organization requesting the removal of the organ shall reimburse the
county of the coroner, or his or her designee, for the actual costs
incurred in performing the duty specified in subdivision (d), if
reimbursement is requested by the county coroner. The payment shall
be applied to the additional costs incurred by the county coroner's
office in performing the duty specified in subdivision (d).
(f) The health care professional removing organs from a decedent
who died under circumstances requiring an inquest shall file with the
county coroner a report detailing the condition of the organs
removed and their relationship, if any, to the cause of death.
7151.25. In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration
shall be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with
respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.
7151.30. This act modifies, limits, and supersedes the Electronic
Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001
et seq.), but does not modify, limit or supersede Section 101(a) of
that act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001), or authorize electronic delivery of
any of the notices described in Section 103(b) of that act (15 U.S.C.
Sec. 7003(b)).
7151.35. (a) No hospital, physician and surgeon, procurement
organization, or other person shall determine the ultimate recipient
of an anatomical gift based upon a potential recipient's physical or
mental disability, except to the extent that the physical or mental
disability has been found by a physician and surgeon, following a
case-by-case evaluation of the potential recipient, to be medically
significant to the provision of the anatomical gift.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall apply to each part of the organ
transplant process. The organ transplant process includes, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
(1) The referral from a primary care provider to a specialist.
(2) The referral from a specialist to a transplant center.
(3) The evaluation of the patient for the transplant by the
transplant center.
(4) The consideration of the patient for placement on the official
waiting list.
(c) A person with a physical or mental disability shall not be
required to demonstrate postoperative independent living abilities in
order to have access to a transplant if there is evidence that the
person will have sufficient, compensatory support and assistance.
(d) The court shall accord priority on its calendar and handle
expeditiously any action brought to seek any remedy authorized by law
for purposes of enforcing compliance with this section.
(e) This section shall not be deemed to require referrals or
recommendations for, or the performance of, medically inappropriate
organ transplants.
(f) As used in this section "disabilities" has the same meaning as
used in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq., P.L. 101-336).
7151.40. (a) If there has been an anatomical gift, a technician may
remove any donated parts and an enucleator may remove any donated
eyes or parts of eyes, after determination of death by a physician
and surgeon.
(b) Following the final disposition of the remains of the donor,
upon request of a person specified in Section 7100, the donee shall
return the cremated remains of the donor at no cost to the person
specified in Section 7100, unless the donor has previously designated
otherwise in the document of gift. A person who knowingly returns
the cremated remains of a person other than the donor to a person
specified in Section 7100 shall be punished by imprisonment in the
county jail for not more than one year.
(c) Residual anatomical materials and human remains donated to
hospitals, organ procurement organizations, accredited medical
schools, dental schools, colleges, or universities for educational,
research, transplantation, or therapeutic use that are no longer
useful or needed for those purposes, may be disposed of by those
entities through cremation, in the same manner as medical waste, and
without additional burial permit requirements if the donor has
specifically waived subdivision (b) of Section 7151.40.
7150. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Uniform
Anatomical Gift Act.
7150.10. (a) As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Adult" means an individual who is at least 18 years of age.
(2) "Agent" means an individual who meets either of the following
criteria:
(A) He or she is authorized to make health care decisions on the
principal's behalf by a power of attorney for health care.
(B) He or she is expressly authorized to make an anatomical gift
on the principal's behalf by any other record signed by the
principal.
(3) "Anatomical gift" means a donation of all or part of a human
body to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of
transplantation, therapy, research, or education.
(4) "Decedent" means a deceased individual whose body or part is
or may be the source of an anatomical gift. The term includes a
stillborn infant and, subject to restrictions imposed by law other
than this chapter, a fetus.
(5) "Disinterested witness" means a witness other than the spouse,
child, parent, sibling, grandchild, grandparent, or guardian of the
individual who makes, amends, revokes, or refuses to make an
anatomical gift, or another adult who exhibited special care and
concern for the individual. The term does not include a person to
which an anatomical gift could pass under Section 7150.50.
(6) "Document of gift" means a donor card or other record used to
make an anatomical gift. The term includes a statement recorded on
the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry or other
donor registry.
(6.5) "Domestic partner" means a person who is registered under
Section 297 of the Family Code, or otherwise recognized under the law
of any state as a domestic partner.
(7) "Donor" means an individual whose body or part is the subject
of an anatomical gift.
(8) "Donor registry" means a database that contains records of
anatomical gifts and amendments to or revocations of anatomical
gifts, including, but not limited to, the Donate Life California
Organ and Tissue Donor Registry.
(9) "Driver's license" means a license or permit issued by the
Department of Motor Vehicles to operate a vehicle, whether or not
conditions are attached to the license or permit.
(10) "Eye bank" means a person that is licensed, accredited, or
regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery,
screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of human
eyes or portions of human eyes.
(11) "Guardian" means a person appointed by a court to make
decisions regarding the support, care, education, health, or welfare
of an individual. The term does not include a guardian ad litem.
(12) "Hospital" means a facility licensed as a hospital under the
law of any state or a facility operated as a hospital by the United
States, a state, or a subdivision of a state.
(13) "Identification card" means an identification card issued by
the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(14) "Know" means to have actual knowledge.
(15) "Minor" means an individual who is under 18 years of age.
(16) "Organ procurement organization" means a person designated by
the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human
Services as an organ procurement organization.
(17) "Parent" means a parent whose parental rights have not been
terminated.
(18) "Part" means an organ, an eye, or tissue of a human being.
The term does not include the whole body.
(19) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust,
estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association,
joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or
commercial entity.
(20) "Physician" means an individual authorized to practice
medicine or osteopathy under the law of any state.
(21) "Procurement organization" means an eye bank, organ
procurement organization, or tissue bank.
(22) "Prospective donor" means an individual who is dead or near
death and has been determined by a procurement organization to have a
part that could be medically suitable for transplantation, therapy,
research, or education. The term does not include an individual who
has made a refusal.
(23) "Reasonably available" means able to be contacted by a
procurement organization, without undue effort, and willing and able
to act in a timely manner consistent with existing medical criteria
necessary for the making of an anatomical gift.
(24) "Recipient" means an individual into whose body a decedent's
part has been, or is intended to be, transplanted.
(25) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible
medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is
retrievable in perceivable form.
(26) "Refusal" means a record created under Section 7150.30 that
expressly states an intent to bar other persons from making an
anatomical gift of an individual's body or part.
(27) "Sign" means, to do either of the following with the present
intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
(A) Execute or adopt a tangible symbol.
(B) Attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic
symbol, sound, or process.
(28) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any
territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States.
(29) "Technician" means an individual determined to be qualified
to remove or process parts by an appropriate organization that is
licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law. The
term includes an enucleator.
(30) "Tissue" means a portion of the human body other than an
organ or an eye. The term does not include blood, unless a blood
sample is needed for the purpose of research or education.
(31) "Tissue bank" means a person that is licensed, accredited, or
regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery,
screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of tissue.
(32) "Transplant hospital" means a hospital that furnishes organ
transplants and other medical and surgical specialty services
required for the care of transplant patients.
(b) This chapter applies to an anatomical gift or amendment to,
revocation of, or refusal to make an anatomical gift, whenever made.
7150.15. Subject to Section 7150.35, an anatomical gift of a donor'
s body or part may be made during the life of the donor for the
purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education in the
manner provided in Section 7150.20 by any of the following
individuals:
(a) The donor, if the donor is an adult or if the donor is a minor
and is either of the following:
(1) An emancipated minor.
(2) Between 15 and 18 years of age, only upon the written consent
of a parent or guardian.
(b) An agent of the donor, provided that the power of attorney for
health care or other record expressly permits the agent to make an
anatomical gift.
7150.20. (a) A donor may make an anatomical gift through any of the
following:
(1) By authorizing a statement or symbol indicating that the donor
has made an anatomical gift to be imprinted on the donor's driver's
license or identification card and included on a donor database
registry.
(2) Directly through the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue
Donor Registry Internet Web site.
(3) In a will.
(4) During a terminal illness or injury of the donor, by any form
of communication that clearly expresses the donor's wish, addressed
to at least two adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested
witness. The witnesses shall memorialize this communication in a
writing and sign and date the writing.
(5) As provided in subdivision (b).
(b) A donor or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift
under Section 7150.15 may make a gift by a donor card or other record
signed by the donor or other person making the gift or by
authorizing that a statement or symbol, indicating that the donor has
made an anatomical gift, be included on a donor registry. If the
donor or other person is physically unable to sign a record, the
record may be signed by another individual at the direction of the
donor or other person and shall comply with all of the following:
(1) Be witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of whom is a
disinterested witness, who have signed at the request of the donor
or the other person.
(2) State that it has been signed and witnessed as provided in
paragraph (1).
(c) Revocation, suspension, expiration, or cancellation of a
driver's license or identification card upon which an anatomical gift
is indicated does not invalidate the gift.
(d) An anatomical gift made by will takes effect upon the donor's
death whether or not the will is probated. Invalidation of the will
after the donor's death does not invalidate the gift.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (i) of Section 7150.65, a document
of gift may designate a particular physician to carry out the
recovery procedures. In the absence of this designation, or if the
designee is not reasonably available or is deemed by the organ
procurement organization not to be qualified to perform the required
procedure, the organ procurement organization may authorize another
physician or technician to carry out the recovery.
7150.25. (a) Subject to Section 7150.35, a donor or other person
authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section 7150.15 may amend
or revoke an anatomical gift by either of the following:
(1) A record signed by any of the following and recorded in a
donor registry database:
(A) The donor.
(B) The other person.
(C) Subject to subdivision (b), another individual acting at the
direction of the donor or of the other person, if the donor or other
person is physically unable to sign.
(2) A later-executed document of gift that amends or revokes a
previous anatomical gift or portion of an anatomical gift, either
expressly or by inconsistency.
(b) A record signed pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a) shall comply with all of the following:
(1) It shall be witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of
whom is a disinterested witness, who have signed at the request of
the donor or the other person.
(2) It shall state that it has been signed and witnessed as
provided in paragraph (1).
(c) Subject to Section 7150.35, a donor or other person authorized
to make an anatomical gift under Section 7150.15 may revoke an
anatomical gift by the destruction of the document of gift or
cancellation of the document of gift on a donor database registry, or
the portion of the document of gift used to make the gift, with the
intent to revoke the gift.
(d) A donor may amend or revoke an anatomical gift that was not
made in a will by any form of communication during a terminal illness
or injury addressed to at least two adults, at least one of whom is
a disinterested witness. The witnesses shall memorialize this
communication in a writing and sign and date the writing.
(e) A donor who makes an anatomical gift in a will may amend or
revoke the gift in the manner provided for amendment or revocation of
wills or as provided in subdivision (a).
7150.30. (a) An individual may refuse to make an anatomical gift of
the individual's body or part by any of the following:
(1) A record signed by either of the following:
(A) The individual.
(B) Subject to subdivision (b), another individual acting at the
direction of the individual if the individual is physically unable to
sign.
(2) The individual's will, whether or not the will is admitted to
probate or invalidated after the individual's death.
(3) Any form of communication made by the individual during the
individual's terminal illness or injury addressed to at least two
adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested witness. The
witnesses shall memorialize this communication in a writing and sign
and date the writing.
(b) A record signed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a) shall comply with both of the following:
(1) It shall be witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of
whom is a disinterested witness, who have signed at the request of
the individual.
(2) It shall state that it has been signed and witnessed as
provided in paragraph (1).
(c) An individual who has made a refusal may amend or revoke the
refusal by any of the following:
(1) In the manner provided in subdivision (a) for making a
refusal.
(2) By subsequently making an anatomical gift pursuant to Section
7150.20 that is inconsistent with the refusal.
(3) By destroying or canceling the record evidencing the refusal,
or the portion of the record used to make the refusal, with the
intent to revoke the refusal.
(d) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (h) of Section
7150.35, in the absence of an express, contrary indication by the
individual set forth in the refusal, an individual's unrevoked
refusal to make an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part
bars all other persons from making an anatomical gift of the
individual's body or part.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, including, but
not limited to, Section 7150.40, only an individual shall make an
anatomical gift of all or part of that individual's body or
pacemaker, if it is made known that the individual, at the time of
death, was a member of a religion, church, sect, or denomination that
relies solely upon prayer for healing of disease or that has
religious tenets that would be violated by the disposition of the
human body or parts or pacemakers for the purposes of
transplantation, therapy, research, or education.
7150.35. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (g) and
subject to subdivision (f), in the absence of an express, contrary
indication by the donor, a person other than the donor is barred from
making, amending, or revoking an anatomical gift of a donor's body
or part if the donor made an anatomical gift of the donor's body or
part under Section 7150.20 or an amendment to an anatomical gift of
the donor's body or part under Section 7150.25.
(b) A donor's revocation of an anatomical gift of the donor's body
or part under Section 7150.25 is not a refusal and does not bar
another person specified in Section 7150.15 or 7150.40 from making an
anatomical gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.20 or
7150.45.
(c) If a person other than the donor makes an unrevoked anatomical
gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.20 or an
amendment to an anatomical gift of the donor's body or part under
Section 7150.25, another person may not make, amend, or revoke the
gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.45.
(d) A revocation of an anatomical gift of a donor's body or part
under Section 7150.25 by a person other than the donor does not bar
another person from making an anatomical gift of the body or part
under Section 7150.20 or 7150.45.
(e) In the absence of an express, contrary indication by the donor
or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section
7150.15, an anatomical gift of a part is neither a refusal to give
another part nor a limitation on the making of an anatomical gift of
another part at a later time by the donor or another person.
(f) In the absence of an express, contrary indication by the donor
or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section
7150.15, an anatomical gift of a part for one or more of the purposes
set forth in Section 7150.15 is not a limitation on the making of an
anatomical gift of the part for any of the other purposes by the
donor or any other person under Section 7150.20 or 7150.45.
(g) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an individual who is between
15 and 18 years of age may make an anatomical gift for any purpose
authorized in this chapter, may limit an anatomical gift to one or
more of those purposes, may refuse to make an anatomical gift, or may
amend or revoke an anatomical gift, only upon the written consent of
the parent or guardian. If a donor who is an unemancipated minor
dies, a parent of the donor who is reasonably available may revoke or
amend an anatomical gift of the donor's body or part.
7150.40. (a) Subject to subdivisions (b) and (c), and unless barred
by Section 7150.30 or 7150.35, an anatomical gift of a decedent's
body or part for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research,
or education may be made by any member of the following classes of
persons who is reasonably available, in the following order of
priority:
(1) An agent of the decedent at the time of death who could have
made an anatomical gift under subdivision (b) of Section 7150.15
immediately before the decedent's death.
(2) The spouse or domestic partner of the decedent.
(3) Adult children of the decedent.
(4) Parents of the decedent.
(5) Adult siblings of the decedent.
(6) Adult grandchildren of the decedent.
(7) Grandparents of the decedent.
(8) An adult who exhibited special care and concern for the
decedent during the decedent's lifetime.
(9) The persons who were acting as the guardians or conservators
of the person of the decedent at the time of death.
(10) (A) Any other person having the authority to dispose of the
decedent's body, including, but not limited to, a coroner, medical
examiner, or hospital administrator, provided that reasonable effort
has been made to locate and inform persons listed in paragraphs (1)
to (9), inclusive, of their option to make, or object to making, an
anatomical gift.
(B) Except in the case where the useful life of the part does not
permit, a reasonable effort shall be deemed to have been made when a
search for the persons has been underway for at least 12 hours. The
search shall include a check of local police missing persons records,
examination of personal effects, and the questioning of any persons
visiting the decedent before his or her death or in the hospital,
accompanying the decedent's body, or reporting the death, in order to
obtain information that might lead to the location of any persons
listed.
(b) If there is more than one member of a class listed in
paragraph (1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), or (9) of subdivision (a)
entitled to make an anatomical gift, an anatomical gift may be made
by a member of the class unless that member or a person to which the
gift may pass under Section 7150.50 knows of an objection by another
member of the class. If an objection is known, the gift may be made
only by a majority of the members of the class who are reasonably
available.
(c) A person shall not make an anatomical gift if, at the time of
the decedent's death, a person in a prior class under subdivision (a)
is reasonably available to make, or to object to the making of, an
anatomical gift.
7150.45. (a) A person authorized to make an anatomical gift under
Section 7150.40 may make an anatomical gift by a document of gift
signed by the person making the gift or by that person's oral
communication that is electronically recorded or is contemporaneously
reduced to a record and signed by the individual receiving the oral
communication.
(b) Subject to subdivision (c), an anatomical gift by a person
authorized under Section 7150.40 may be amended or revoked orally or
in a record by any member of a prior class who is reasonably
available. If more than one member of the prior class is reasonably
available, the gift made by a person authorized under Section 7150.40
may be amended or revoked as follows:
(1) Amended only if a majority of the reasonably available members
agree to the amending of the gift.
(2) Revoked only if a majority of the reasonably available members
agree to the revoking of the gift or if they are equally divided as
to whether to revoke the gift.
(c) A revocation under subdivision (b) is effective only if,
before an incision has been made to remove a part from the donor's
body or before invasive procedures have begun to prepare the
recipient, the procurement organization, transplant hospital, or
physician or technician knows of the revocation.
7150.50. (a) An anatomical gift may be made to any of the following
persons named in the document of gift:
(1) A hospital, accredited medical school, dental school, college,
university, or organ procurement organization, for research or
education.
(2) Subject to subdivision (b), an individual designated by the
person making the anatomical gift if the individual is the recipient
of the part.
(3) An eye bank, or tissue bank.
(b) If an anatomical gift to an individual under paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) cannot be transplanted into the individual, the part
passes in accordance with subdivision (g) in the absence of an
express, contrary indication by the person making the anatomical
gift.
(c) If an anatomical gift of one or more specific parts, or of all
parts, is made in a document of gift that does not name a person
described in subdivision (a) but identifies the purpose for which an
anatomical gift may be used, all of the following rules shall apply:
(1) If the part is an eye and the gift is for the purpose of
transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate eye
bank.
(2) If the part is tissue and the gift is for the purpose of
transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate tissue
bank.
(3) If the part is an organ and the gift is for the purpose of
transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate organ
procurement organization as custodian of the organ.
(4) If the part is an organ, an eye, or tissue and the gift is for
the purpose of research or education, the gift passes to the
appropriate procurement organization.
(d) For the purpose of subdivision (c), if there is more than one
purpose of an anatomical gift set forth in the document of gift but
the purposes are not set forth in any priority, the gift shall be
used for transplantation or therapy, if suitable. If the gift cannot
be used for transplantation or therapy, the gift may be used for
research or education.
(e) If an anatomical gift of one or more specific parts is made in
a document of gift that does not name a person described in
subdivision (a) and does not identify the purpose of the gift, the
gift shall be used only for transplantation or therapy, and the gift
passes in accordance with subdivision (g).
(f) If a document of gift specifies only a general intent to make
an anatomical gift by words such as "donor," "organ donor," or "body
donor," or by a symbol or statement of similar import, the gift may
be used for transplantation, therapy, research, or education, and the
gift passes in accordance with subdivision (g).
(g) For purposes of subdivisions (b), (e), and (f) all of the
following rules shall apply:
(1) If the part is an eye, the gift passes to the appropriate eye
bank.
(2) If the part is tissue, the gift passes to the appropriate
tissue bank.
(3) If the part is an organ, the gift passes to the appropriate
organ procurement organization as custodian of the organ.
(h) An anatomical gift of an organ for transplantation or therapy,
other than an anatomical gift under paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a), passes to the organ procurement organization as custodian of the
organ.
(i) If an anatomical gift does not pass pursuant to subdivisions
(a) to (h), inclusive, or the decedent's body or part is not used for
transplantation, therapy, research, or education, custody of the
body or part passes to the person under obligation to dispose of the
body or part.
(j) A person shall not accept an anatomical gift if the person
knows that the gift was not effectively made under Section 7150.20 or
7150.45 or if the person knows that the decedent made a refusal
under Section 7150.30 that was not revoked. For purposes of this
subdivision, if a person knows that an anatomical gift was made on a
document of gift, the person is deemed to know of any amendment or
revocation of the gift or any refusal to make an anatomical gift on
the same document of gift.
(k) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a), nothing in this chapter affects the allocation of organs for
transplantation or therapy.
7150.55. (a) All of the following persons shall make a reasonable
search of an individual who the person reasonably believes is dead or
near death for a document of gift or other information identifying
the individual as a donor or as an individual who made a refusal:
(1) A law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, or other
emergency rescuer finding the individual.
(2) If no other source of the information is immediately
available, a hospital, as soon as practical after the individual's
arrival at the hospital.
(b) If a document of gift or a refusal to make an anatomical gift
is located by the search required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (a)
and the individual or deceased individual to whom it relates is
taken to a hospital, the person responsible for conducting the search
shall send the document of gift or refusal to the hospital.
(c) A person is not subject to criminal or civil liability for
failing to discharge the duties imposed by this section, but may be
subject to administrative sanctions.
7150.60. (a) A document of gift need not be delivered during the
donor's lifetime to be effective.
(b) Upon or after an individual's death, a person in possession of
a document of gift or a refusal to make an anatomical gift with
respect to the individual shall allow examination and copying of the
document of gift or refusal by a person authorized to make or object
to the making of an anatomical gift with respect to the individual or
by a person to which the gift could pass under Section 7150.50.
7150.65. (a) When a hospital refers an individual at or near death
to a procurement organization, the organization shall make a
reasonable search of the records of the Donate Life California Organ
and Tissue Donor Registry and any donor registry that it knows exists
for the geographical area in which the individual resides to
ascertain whether the individual has made an anatomical gift.
(b) A procurement organization shall be allowed reasonable access
to information in the records of the Donate Life California Organ and
Tissue Donor Registry to ascertain whether an individual who is at
or near death is a donor. Personally identifiable information on a
donor registry about a donor shall not be used or disclosed without
the express consent of the donor or the person that made the
anatomical gift for any purpose other than to determine, at or near
death of the donor or a prospective donor, whether the donor or
prospective donor has made, amended, or revoked an anatomical gift. A
procurement organization shall not sell the information obtained
from the donor registry. A procurement organization shall also comply
with all state and federal laws with respect to the protection of a
donor's or prospective donor's personally identifiable information.
(c) When a hospital refers an individual at or near death to a
procurement organization, the organization may conduct any reasonable
examination necessary to ensure the medical suitability of a part
that is or could be the subject of an anatomical gift for
transplantation, therapy, research, or education from a donor or a
prospective donor. During the examination period, measures necessary
to ensure the medical suitability of the part may not be withdrawn
unless the hospital or procurement organization knows that the
individual expressed a contrary intent.
(d) Unless prohibited by law other than this chapter, at any time
after a donor's death, the person to which a part passes under
Section 7150.50 may conduct any reasonable examination necessary to
ensure the medical suitability of the body or part for its intended
purpose.
(e) Unless prohibited by law other than this chapter, an
examination under subdivision (c) or (d) may include an examination
of all medical and dental records of the donor or prospective donor.
(f) Upon the death of a minor who was a donor or had signed a
refusal, unless a procurement organization knows the minor is
emancipated, the procurement organization shall conduct a reasonable
search for the parents of the minor and provide the parents with an
opportunity to revoke or amend the anatomical gift or revoke the
refusal.
(g) Upon referral by a hospital under subdivision (a), a
procurement organization shall make a reasonable search for any
person listed in Section 7150.40 having priority to make an
anatomical gift on behalf of a prospective donor. If a procurement
organization receives information that an anatomical gift to any
other person was made, amended, or revoked, it shall promptly advise
the other person of all relevant information.
(h) Subject to subdivision (i) of Section 7150.50, and Section
7151.20, the rights of the person to which a part passes under
Section 7150.50 are superior to the rights of all others with respect
to the part. The person may accept or reject an anatomical gift in
whole or in part. Subject to the terms of the document of gift and
this chapter, a person that accepts an anatomical gift of an entire
body may allow embalming, burial, or cremation, and use of remains in
a funeral service. If the gift is of a part, the person to which the
part passes under Section 7150.50, upon the death of the donor and
before embalming, burial, or cremation, shall cause the part to be
removed without unnecessary mutilation.
(i) Except as provided in subdivision (e) of Section 7150.20,
neither the physician who attends the decedent at death nor the
physician who determines the time of the decedent's death may
participate in the procedures for removing or transplanting a part
from the decedent.
(j) A physician or technician may remove a donated part from the
body of a donor that the physician or technician is qualified to
remove.
7150.70. Each hospital in this state shall enter into agreements or
affiliations with procurement organizations for coordination of
procurement and use of anatomical gifts.
7150.75. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), a
person that, for valuable consideration, knowingly purchases or sells
a part for transplantation or therapy, if removal of a part from an
individual is intended to occur after the individual's death, is
guilty of a felony and is subject to a fine not exceeding fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000), or imprisonment not exceeding five years,
or both the fine and imprisonment.
(b) A person may charge a reasonable amount for the removal,
processing, preservation, quality control, storage, transportation,
implantation, or disposal of a part.
7150.80. (a) A person that acts in accordance with this chapter or
with the applicable anatomical gift law of another state, or attempts
in good faith to do so, is not liable for the act in a civil action
or criminal prosecution.
(b) Neither the person making an anatomical gift nor the donor's
estate is liable for any injury or damage that results from the
making or use of the gift.
(c) In determining whether an anatomical gift has been made,
amended, or revoked under this chapter, a person may rely upon
representations of an individual listed in paragraphs (2) to (8),
inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 7150.40 relating to the
individual's relationship to the donor or prospective donor, unless
the person knows that the representation is untrue.
7150.85. (a) A document of gift is valid if executed in accordance
with any of the following:
(1) This chapter.
(2) The laws of the state or country where it was executed.
(3) The laws of the state or country where the person making the
anatomical gift was domiciled, has a place of residence, or was a
national at the time the document of gift was executed.
(b) If a document of gift is valid under this section, the law of
this state governs the interpretation of the document of gift.
(c) A person may presume that a document of gift or amendment of
an anatomical gift is valid unless that person knows that it was not
validly executed, or that it was revoked.
7150.90. (a) The California organ procurement organizations
designated pursuant to Section 273 and following Title 42 of the
United States Code, are hereby authorized to establish a
not-for-profit entity that shall be designated the California Organ
and Tissue Donor Registrar, which shall establish and maintain the
California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, to be known as the Donate
Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. The registry shall
contain information regarding persons who have identified themselves
as organ and tissue donors upon their death. The registrar shall be
responsible for developing methods to increase the number of donors
who enroll in the registry.
(b) The registrar shall make available to the federally designated
organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in California and the state
licensed tissue and eye banks information contained in the registry
regarding potential donors on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week
basis. This information shall be used to expedite a match between
identified organ and tissue donors and potential recipients.
(c) The registrar may receive voluntary contributions to support
the registry and its activities.
(d) The registrar shall submit an annual written report to the
State Public Health Officer and the Legislature that includes all of
the following:
(1) The number of donors on the registry.
(2) The changes in the number of donors on the registry.
(3) The general characteristics of donors as may be determined by
information provided on the donor registry forms pursuant to Sections
12811 and 13005 of the Vehicle Code.
7151.10. (a) As used in this section the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Advance health care directive" means a power of attorney for
health care or a record signed by a prospective donor containing the
prospective donor's direction concerning a health care decision for
the prospective donor.
(2) "Declaration" means a record signed by a prospective donor
specifying the circumstances under which a life-support system may be
withheld or withdrawn from the prospective donor.
(3) "Health care decision" means any decision made regarding the
health care of the prospective donor.
(b) If a prospective donor has a declaration or advance health
care directive and the terms of the declaration or directive and the
express or implied terms of a potential anatomical gift are in
conflict with regard to the administration of measures necessary to
ensure the medical suitability of a part for transplantation or
therapy, the prospective donor's attending physician and prospective
donor shall confer to resolve the conflict. If the prospective donor
is incapable of resolving the conflict, an agent acting under the
prospective donor's declaration or directive, or, if none, or the
agent is not reasonably available, another person authorized by law
other than this chapter to make health care decisions on behalf of
the prospective donor, shall act for the donor to resolve the
conflict. The conflict shall be resolved as expeditiously as
possible. Information relevant to the resolution of the conflict may
be obtained from the appropriate procurement organization and any
other person authorized to make an anatomical gift for the
prospective donor under Section 7150.40. Before resolution of the
conflict, measures necessary to ensure the medical suitability of the
part shall not be withheld or withdrawn from the prospective donor
if withholding or withdrawing the measures is not contraindicated by
appropriate end-of-life care.
7151.15. (a) A county coroner shall cooperate with procurement
organizations to maximize the opportunity to recover anatomical gifts
for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education.
(b) If a county coroner receives notice from a procurement
organization that an anatomical gift might be available or was made
with respect to a decedent whose body is under the jurisdiction of
the coroner and a post mortem examination is going to be performed,
unless the coroner denies recovery in accordance with Section
7151.20, the coroner or designee shall conduct a post mortem
examination of the body or the part in a manner and within a period
compatible with its preservation for the purposes of the gift.
(c) A part shall not be removed from the body of a decedent under
the jurisdiction of a coroner for transplantation, therapy, research,
or education unless the part is the subject of an anatomical gift.
The body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the coroner shall
not be delivered to a person for research or education unless the
body is the subject of an anatomical gift. This subdivision does not
preclude a coroner from performing the medico legal investigation
upon the body or parts of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the
coroner.
7151.20. (a) On request from a qualified procurement organization,
the county coroner may permit the removal of organs that constitute
an anatomical gift from a decedent who died under circumstances
requiring an inquest by the coroner.
(b) If no autopsy is required, the organs to be removed may be
released to the qualified procurement organization.
(c) If an autopsy is required and the county coroner determines
that the removal of the organs will not interfere with the subsequent
course of an investigation or autopsy, the organs may be released
for removal. The autopsy shall be performed following the removal of
the organs.
(d) If a county coroner is considering withholding one or more
organs of a potential donor for any reason, the county coroner, or
his or her designee, upon request from a qualified organ procurement
organization, shall be present during the procedure to remove the
organs. The county coroner, or his or her designee, may request a
biopsy of those organs or deny removal of the organs if necessary. If
the county coroner, or his or her designee, denies removal of the
organs, the county coroner may do any of the following:
(1) In the investigative report, explain in writing the reasons
for the denial.
(2) Provide the explanation to the qualified organ procurement
organization.
(e) If the county coroner, or his or her designee, is present
during the removal of the organs, the qualified procurement
organization requesting the removal of the organ shall reimburse the
county of the coroner, or his or her designee, for the actual costs
incurred in performing the duty specified in subdivision (d), if
reimbursement is requested by the county coroner. The payment shall
be applied to the additional costs incurred by the county coroner's
office in performing the duty specified in subdivision (d).
(f) The health care professional removing organs from a decedent
who died under circumstances requiring an inquest shall file with the
county coroner a report detailing the condition of the organs
removed and their relationship, if any, to the cause of death.
7151.25. In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration
shall be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with
respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.
7151.30. This act modifies, limits, and supersedes the Electronic
Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001
et seq.), but does not modify, limit or supersede Section 101(a) of
that act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001), or authorize electronic delivery of
any of the notices described in Section 103(b) of that act (15 U.S.C.
Sec. 7003(b)).
7151.35. (a) No hospital, physician and surgeon, procurement
organization, or other person shall determine the ultimate recipient
of an anatomical gift based upon a potential recipient's physical or
mental disability, except to the extent that the physical or mental
disability has been found by a physician and surgeon, following a
case-by-case evaluation of the potential recipient, to be medically
significant to the provision of the anatomical gift.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall apply to each part of the organ
transplant process. The organ transplant process includes, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
(1) The referral from a primary care provider to a specialist.
(2) The referral from a specialist to a transplant center.
(3) The evaluation of the patient for the transplant by the
transplant center.
(4) The consideration of the patient for placement on the official
waiting list.
(c) A person with a physical or mental disability shall not be
required to demonstrate postoperative independent living abilities in
order to have access to a transplant if there is evidence that the
person will have sufficient, compensatory support and assistance.
(d) The court shall accord priority on its calendar and handle
expeditiously any action brought to seek any remedy authorized by law
for purposes of enforcing compliance with this section.
(e) This section shall not be deemed to require referrals or
recommendations for, or the performance of, medically inappropriate
organ transplants.
(f) As used in this section "disabilities" has the same meaning as
used in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq., P.L. 101-336).
7151.40. (a) If there has been an anatomical gift, a technician may
remove any donated parts and an enucleator may remove any donated
eyes or parts of eyes, after determination of death by a physician
and surgeon.
(b) Following the final disposition of the remains of the donor,
upon request of a person specified in Section 7100, the donee shall
return the cremated remains of the donor at no cost to the person
specified in Section 7100, unless the donor has previously designated
otherwise in the document of gift. A person who knowingly returns
the cremated remains of a person other than the donor to a person
specified in Section 7100 shall be punished by imprisonment in the
county jail for not more than one year.
(c) Residual anatomical materials and human remains donated to
hospitals, organ procurement organizations, accredited medical
schools, dental schools, colleges, or universities for educational,
research, transplantation, or therapeutic use that are no longer
useful or needed for those purposes, may be disposed of by those
entities through cremation, in the same manner as medical waste, and
without additional burial permit requirements if the donor has
specifically waived subdivision (b) of Section 7151.40.
