S.C. Code Ann. § 44-43-945 – Determination of appropriateness of donation; contacting person authorized to give consent

(A) If upon referral of a potential organ or tissue donor, the organ and tissue procurement organization determines that the donation is not appropriate based on established medical criteria, this determination must be noted by hospital personnel on the patient's record. Within two hours of this determination and the deceased patient's next-of-kin designating a funeral director, the hospital shall notify the funeral director of this designation and when the body of the deceased will be made available to the funeral director.
(B) If the organ and tissue procurement organization determines that the patient is a suitable candidate for organ or tissue donation, a representative of the organ and tissue procurement organization shall contact the appropriate person authorized to consent to the donation pursuant to Section 44-43-340.
(C) Discretion and sensitivity to family circumstances and religious beliefs must be used in all contacts with family members regarding organ and tissue donation.

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 289, Section 8; 2006 Act No. 334, Section 1, eff June 2, 2006; 2009 Act No. 4, Section 3, eff May 6, 2009.

Effect of Amendment

The 2006 amendment, in subsection (A), in the first sentence substituted "or tissue donor, the organ and tissue procurement organization" for ", tissue, eye donation, or any combination of these, the South Carolina Donor Referral Network"; and in the third sentence, substituted "organ and tissue procurement organization" for "Donor Referral Network" in three places and deleted "eye" following "tissue" in two places; and, in subsection (B), deleted ", and eye" following "tissue,".

The 2009 amendment designated the third sentence of subsection (A) as subsection (B) and redesignated subsection (B) as subsection (C); in subsection (A), in the second sentence deleted "or within two hours of a patient's death" following "determination"; and, in subsection (B), deleted "or both,"following "tissue donation" and "or a person designated by the organ and tissue procurement organization" following "procurement organization" and substituted "44-43-340" for "44-43-330 to ascertain if the deceased is an organ or tissue donor, or both, and if not, to inform the person about and the procedures for organ and tissue donation".