§ 7–1531.21. Cooperation between the Chief Medical Examiner and procurement organizations.

(a) The Chief Medical Examiner and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall cooperate with procurement organizations to maximize the opportunity to recover anatomical gifts for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and procurement organizations shall in good faith develop and agree upon protocols in a memorandum of understanding to achieve this objective and shall evaluate the effectiveness of the memorandum of understanding at regular intervals, but no less frequently than every 2 years.

(b) If the Chief Medical Examiner 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 Chief Medical Examiner and a post-mortem examination is going to be performed, unless the Chief Medical Examiner denies recovery of a specific part or parts in accordance with § 7-1531.22, the Chief Medical Examiner, 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)(1) A part may not be removed from the body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the Chief Medical Examiner for transplantation, therapy, research, or education unless the part is the subject of an anatomical gift and the Chief Medical Examiner has been notified before the part is removed from the decedent and has approved the removal.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, the body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the Chief Medical Examiner may not be delivered to a person for research or education unless the body is the subject of an anatomical gift.

(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as precluding the Chief Medical Examiner from performing the medicolegal investigation upon the body or parts of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the Chief Medical Examiner.

(d) The body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the Chief Medical Examiner may be delivered for use in an exhibition in connection with a governmental museum or institution of learning permanently located in the District of Columbia in accordance with § 43-120; provided, that the Chief Medical Examiner must be notified before the body is delivered for such purposes.