S-3269.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 6839
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 56th Legislature 2000 Regular Session
By Senators McDonald, Finkbeiner, Oke and Winsley
Read first time 02/08/2000. Referred to Committee on Health & Long‑Term Care.
AN ACT Relating to anatomical gifts; and amending RCW 68.50.560 and 68.50.610.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 68.50.560 and 1993 c 228 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
((On or before admission to a hospital, or as soon as possible thereafter, a
person designated by the hospital shall ask each patient who is at least
eighteen years of age: "Are you an organ or tissue donor?" If the
answer is affirmative the person shall request a copy of the document of gift.
If the answer is negative or there is no answer, the person designated shall
provide the patient information about the right to make a gift and shall ask
the patient if he or she wishes to become an anatomical parts donor. If the
answer is affirmative, the person designated shall provide a document of gift
to the patient. The answer to the questions, an available copy of any document
of gift or refusal to make an anatomical gift, and any other relevant
information shall be placed in the patient's medical record.
(2))) If,
at or near the time of death of a patient, there is no medical record that the
patient has made or refused to make an anatomical gift, the hospital
administrator or a representative designated by the administrator shall discuss
the option to make or refuse to make an anatomical gift and request the making
of an anatomical gift under RCW 68.50.550(1). The request shall be made with
reasonable discretion and sensitivity to the circumstances of the family. A
request is not required if the gift is not suitable, based upon accepted
medical standards, for a purpose specified in RCW 68.50.570. An entry shall be
made in the medical record of the patient, stating the name and affiliation of
the individual making the request, and of the name, response, and relationship
to the patient of the person to whom the request was made. The secretary of
the department of health shall adopt rules to implement this subsection.
(((3)))
(2) The following persons shall make a reasonable search of the
individual and his or her personal effects for a document of gift or other
information identifying the bearer as a donor or as an individual who has
refused to make an anatomical gift:
(a) The agency assuming jurisdiction over the decedent, such as the coroner or medical examiner; or
(b) A hospital, upon the admission of an individual at or near the time of death, if there is not immediately available another source of that information.
(((4)))
(3) If a document of gift or evidence of refusal to make an anatomical
gift is located by the search required by subsection (((3))) (2)(a)
of this section, and the individual or body to whom it relates is taken to a
hospital, the hospital shall be notified of the contents and the document or
other evidence shall be sent to the hospital.
(((5)))
(4) If, at or near the time of death of a patient, a hospital knows that
an anatomical gift has been made under RCW 68.50.550(1), or that a patient or
an individual identified as in transit to the hospital is a donor, the hospital
shall notify the donee if one is named and known to the hospital; if not, it
shall notify an appropriate procurement organization. The hospital shall
cooperate in the procurement of the anatomical gift or release and removal of a
part.
(((6)))
(5) A person who fails to discharge the duties imposed by this section
is not subject to criminal or civil liability.
(((7)))
(6) Hospitals shall develop policies and procedures to implement this
section.
Sec. 2. RCW 68.50.610 and 1993 c 228 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)(a) A person may not knowingly, for valuable consideration, purchase or sell a part for transplantation or therapy, if removal of the part is intended to occur after the death of the decedent.
(b) No person may sell or offer to sell a human organ.
(2) Valuable consideration does not include reasonable payment for the removal, processing, disposal, preservation, quality control, storage, transportation, or implantation of a part.
(3) A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and upon conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both.
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