§453-15  Who shall give consent to apostmortem examination.  A pathologist or any licensed physician,osteopathic physician, or surgeon may conduct a postmortem examination whenwritten consent thereto is given by whoever of the following assumes custody ofthe body for purposes of burial:  father, mother, husband, wife, reciprocalbeneficiary, child, guardian, next of kin, or, in the absence of any of theforegoing, a friend or person, including a governmental agency, charged by lawwith the responsibility for the burial.  If two or more persons assume custodyof the body, the consent of one of them is sufficient.  The consent shallinclude the consent to the retention by the pathologist or licensed physician,osteopathic physician, or surgeon who conducts the postmortem examination oftissues, including fetal material, of the body removed at the time of thepostmortem examination to be used for necessary or advisable scientificinvestigation, including research, teaching, and therapeutic purposes. [L 1957,c 309, §1; Supp, §64-14; am L 1967, c 188, §1; HRS §453-15; am L 1997, c 383,§62; am L 2008, c 5, §17]