The State Board of Health shall prescribe the rules and regulations under which the bodies of deceased persons may be brought into, or transported through, the state and, also, the rules and regulations under which such bodies may be transported from one point to another point in the same county or from one county to another in this state; but the said State Board of Health may, in its discretion, forbid the conveyance of the bodies of persons who have died of infectious, contagious or communicable diseases into, or through, this state or from one county to another in this state. This section shall not be so construed as to prevent county boards of health from regulating the transportation of the bodies of deceased persons within their respective county limits; but cities and towns are prohibited from enacting ordinances regulating the removal from the city or town of the bodies of deceased persons or the issuance of removal permits for removing such remains from the city or town to a point outside the county.

The Department of Ophthalmology of the University of Alabama School of Medicine is authorized to train employees of the Alabama Lions Eye Bank in principles and procedures of sterile eye enucleation pursuant to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.

The chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology of the University of Alabama School of Medicine shall certify that no such employee shall be allowed to perform eye enucleation unless such an employee possesses the educational qualifications, standards of proficiency and fitness.

The chairman of the department of ophthalmology is authorized to establish and promulgate the standards, measures, procedures, and recommendations necessary to assure the employee hereunder possesses the knowledge and technical skill to perform donor eye enucleation acceptable as good ophthalmologic and pathological procedure.

Any employee of the Alabama Lions Eye Bank who is trained in donor eye enucleation under this article shall comply with the provisions of the Alabama Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. Such eye bank technician acting in accordance with the terms of this article shall not have any liability either civil or criminal for such eye enucleation.

This article does not supersede, modify, or amend prior acts, specifically Sections 34-13-150 through 34-13-152.

(a) The acquisition and transportation and transplantation of donor organs, bones and tissues is becoming more common place as new scientific and technological developments find better ways to conquer the human body's rejection of such transplanted organs, bones and tissues. In its concern that donee recipients be provided the best possible quality assurance that such donated organs, bones and tissues, retrieved in Alabama are free from any contagious or communicable disease or defect, the Legislature intends to establish in this article a framework for the development of appropriate standards of care and quality assurance for the acquisition and/or transportation of organs, bones and tissues retrieved in Alabama.

(b) It is also the intent of this article to recognize and utilize the quality assurance already developed in Alabama by the department of surgery of the school of medicine, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center by authorizing the chairman of the department of surgery to establish and promulgate the standards of proficiency and fitness and measures and procedures necessary to assure that persons involved in organ acquisition and/or transportation of organs retrieved in Alabama possess and provide the necessary knowledge and technical skills to acquire and/or transport organs, bones and tissues within acceptable levels of quality assurance.

(c) It is also the intent of this article to provide sanctions against persons who fail to adhere to and follow such established policies and procedures and standards for quality assurance in the acquisition and/or transportation in Alabama of donor organs, bones, and tissues retrieved in Alabama.

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings, respectively, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) CHAIRMAN. The chairman of the department of surgery, school of medicine, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

(2) PERSON. Any person, firm, partnership, association, joint venture, or corporation, and any combination of persons herein specified, but 'person' shall not include the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof, except in the case of voluntary submission to the policies and procedures and standards for quality assurance established by this article and by the 'chairman'.

(3) QUALITY ASSURANCE. The policies and procedures and standards of quality for the acquisition and/or transportation of donated organs, bones, and tissue retrieved in Alabama.

(4) ORGAN. Any human organ, human bone or human tissue, or any other part or portions of the human body, retrieved in Alabama except that the term 'organ' shall not include blood, blood products, or eyes or corneas of the eye for the purposes established by this article.

(5) SERVICE. Any service pertaining to the acquisition and/or transporting of organs, bones, or tissues retrieved in Alabama.

(a) The chairman of the department of surgery of the school of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is authorized to establish and promulgate the standards of proficiency and fitness and measures and procedures for quality assurance in the acquiring and/or transporting of organs, bones, and tissues retrieved in Alabama.

(b) The chairman of the department of surgery of the school of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham shall certify when a person shall be allowed to acquire and/or transport any organ, bone or tissue retrieved in Alabama. The chairman shall not certify any person to acquire and/or transport any organ, bone or tissue to be retrieved in Alabama until such person possesses and demonstrates to the chairman the necessary knowledge and technical skills to comply with the established standards of proficiency and fitness.

(c) After the chairman establishes and promulgates the initial standards of quality assurance, any proposed subsequent updating, except to meet federal standards, are to be circulated for comment only, to any institution in Alabama then performing organ transplants. The chairman shall still have the final and sole decision to establish and promulgate whatever is appropriate for updating the standards of quality assurance.

Any person providing any service pertaining to the acquisition and/or transportation of donor organs, bones and tissues retrieved in Alabama, shall strictly adhere to and follow the established quality assurance standards of proficiency and fitness and measures and procedures as established and promulgated by the chairman.

Any person providing services in violation of the established policies and procedures and standards for quality assurance, as established and promulgated by the chairman, shall not receive reimbursement for such services. This provision applies to all reimbursement programs administered by the State of Alabama. Recommendations, by the chairman, will be made to other reimbursing agencies that reimbursement be denied.

Any person who, in good faith, follows the policies and procedures and standards as established by the chairman for quality assurance, and complies with the provisions of the Alabama Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, shall not have any liability, either civil or criminal, for such acquiring, and/or transporting any organs, bones, or tissues retrieved in Alabama.

(a) The provisions of this article are cumulative and insofar as possible, they shall be construed in pari materia with other laws relating to the public health and anatomical gifts.

(b) At such time that standards of quality assurance for the acquisition and/or transporting and/or transplanting of donated organs, bones and tissues are adopted by the federal government, said Alabama standards of quality assurance shall be consistent with the appropriate federal regulations.

(a) The Legislature of Alabama is acutely aware of the serious shortage of organs needed for transplantation. In its concern with this shortage of organs, the Legislature intends to establish in this article, a mechanism for the requesting of donor organs of any person who has died in a hospital and has not made an anatomical gift to take effect upon death.

(b) The Legislature of Alabama believes the citizens of Alabama are compassionate and loving, and, in the appropriate circumstances, will respond to the request for organs for transplantation in that such a gift is, many times, literally, a 'gift of life'.

(c) It is also the intent of the Legislature of Alabama to encourage organ donation in Alabama by establishing 'The Lifesaving Organ Procurement Act of 1986.'

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings, respectively, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) ORGAN. Organs, tissues, eyes, bones, arteries, blood or other fluids and any other part or portions of a human body.

(2) ATTENDING PHYSICIAN. The physician selected by, or assigned to, the patient and who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the patient.

(a) When death occurs in a hospital to a patient who has not made an anatomical gift to take effect upon death, the hospital administrator, or designated representative, shall request the person described in Section 22-19-42(b), in the order of priority stated, when persons in prior classes are not available at the time of death, and in the absence of actual notice of contrary indication by the decedent or one in a prior class, to consent to the gift of organs of the decedent's body as an anatomical gift.

(b) Where such request is made, pursuant to this section, the request and its disposition shall be noted in the patient's medical record.

(c) Where, based upon medical criteria, such request would not yield an anatomical gift which would be suitable for use, there is an authorized exception to the request required by this section.

(d) Where, based upon the attending physician's special and peculiar knowledge of the decedent and/or the circumstances surrounding the death of the patient, the attending physician, in his/her sole judgment, may determine that a request shall not be made for an anatomical gift, such determination shall be noted in the patient's medical record. Such a determination and noting in the patient's medical record shall be an exception to the request required by this section.

Any person who acts in good faith in accord with the terms of this article or with the anatomical gift laws of this state, or another state, or a foreign country shall not be liable for damages in any civil action or subject to prosecution in any criminal proceeding for such act.

The provisions of this article are cumulative and, insofar as possible, they shall be construed in pari materia with other laws relating to the public health and anatomical gifts.

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to take, carry, transport or remove from within the confines of this state any dead human body unless said body has been embalmed or cremated. Any person, firm or corporation who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be, upon conviction, punished as prescribed by law. Nothing in this section, however, shall be construed to prohibit exportation of an unembalmed dead human body which has been disposed of for the purpose of advancement of medical science, or for the replacement of diseased or worn out parts of other humans or for the rehabilitation of human parts or other organs, in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 of this chapter.

The State Health Officer, the dean of the school of medicine and the head of the department of anatomy of the University of Alabama in Birmingham and the deans and heads of the departments of anatomy of other medical schools which may hereafter become incorporated under the laws of this state shall be constituted as a board for the distribution and delivery of dead bodies, known as 'State of Alabama Anatomical Board.' The professor of anatomy in the medical school of the University of Alabama, in Birmingham, shall serve as secretary.

The said board shall have full power to establish rules and regulations for its government and to appoint and remove its officers and shall keep full and complete minutes of its transactions. Records shall also be kept under its direction of all bodies received and distributed by said board and of the persons or institutions to whom the same may be distributed, which minutes and records shall be open, at all times, to the inspection of each member of said board and of any district attorney of any district court in this state.

All public officers of this state and their assistants and all officers and their deputies of every county, city, town or other municipality and of every prison, penitentiary, morgue and public hospital in this state having charge or control over any dead human body or bodies, not dead from any contagious or infectious disease and required to be buried at public expense, are required to notify the said Anatomical Board, or such person or persons as may from time to time be designated in writing by said board or its duly authorized officers, whenever any such body or bodies come into their possession, charge or control and shall, without fee or reward, deliver such body or bodies and suffer said board and its duly authorized agents, who may comply with the provisions of this article, to take and remove all such bodies to be used only within this state solely for the advancement of medical science. The State of Alabama Anatomical Board is expressly authorized to solicit dead bodies, for the purposes of scientific studies, from appropriate authorities within the jurisdiction of each county governing body.

No notice shall be given, nor shall any such body or bodies be delivered, if any person shall satisfy the authorities in charge of said body or bodies that he or she is of any degree of kin or is related by marriage to, or socially or otherwise connected with and interested in, the deceased and shall claim the said body or bodies for burial. In that event, it or they shall be at once surrendered to such person for interment or shall be buried at public expense at the request of such claimant, if a relative by blood or a connection by marriage, provided he or she is financially unable to supply such body or bodies with burial. Such notice shall not be given, or such body be delivered, if the deceased person was a traveler who died suddenly, in which case the dead body shall be buried.

Such body or bodies shall, in each and every instance, be held and kept by the person or persons having charge or control of it or them at least 24 hours after death before being delivered to said board, or its agent or agents, during which period notice of the death of such person or persons shall be posted at the courthouse door of the county in which said body or bodies are held.

The said board, or its duly authorized agent, may take and receive such bodies so delivered as provided in this article and shall, upon receiving them, distribute them among schools, duly authorized by said board, for lectures and demonstrations by said schools, the number assigned to each to be based upon the number of bona fide students in each dissecting or operative surgery class, which number of students shall be reported by the said schools to the board at such times as it may direct.

Said schools, upon receiving them, and before any use is made of them, and without unnecessary mutilation or dissection shall cause them to be properly embalmed and carefully preserved and kept for a period of 60 days from the day of their reception and shall deliver them properly prepared for burial to any person mentioned and described in Section 22-19-23, who shall claim such body for burial, within or before the expiration of said period of 60 days, and satisfy the officers of said school that he or she is such a person as is, under said Section 22-19-23, entitled to said body. If, at the expiration of said 60 days, said body or bodies have not been claimed for burial in the manner and by the person or persons described in this article, said bodies shall then be used for the purposes specified in this article by said schools.

When said bodies have been so used and are no longer needed or serviceable for objects mentioned in this article, they shall be decently interred, cremated or otherwise properly disposed of by the said schools.

The said board may employ a carrier or carriers for the conveyance of said bodies, which shall be enclosed in a suitable encasement and carefully deposited free from public observation. Said carrier or carriers shall obtain receipts by name or, if the person be unknown, by a description for such body delivered by him and shall deposit said receipts with the secretary of said board, who shall record and preserve the same.

Neither the state, nor any county or municipality nor any officer, agent or servant thereof shall be at any expense by reason of delivery or distribution of any such body or bodies, but all expenses thereof shall be paid by those receiving the body or bodies in such a manner as may be specified or fixed by said board.

Any person, for himself or as an officer, agent or employee of any other person or of any corporation or partnership, who shall:

(1) Inter, cremate or otherwise finally dispose of a dead human body or permit the same to be done or remove such body from the primary registration district in which the death occurred or the body was found, without the authority of a burial or removal permit issued by the local registrar of the district in which the death occurred or in which the body was found; or

(2) Refuse or fail to furnish correctly any information in his possession or furnish false information affecting any certificate or record required by the health laws of this state; or

(3) Willfully alter, otherwise than is provided by law, or falsify any certificate of birth or death or any record established by the health laws of this state; or

(4) Being required by the health laws of this state to fill out a certificate of birth or death and file the same with the local registrar, or deliver it, upon request, to any person charged with the duty of filing the same, fail, neglect or refuse to perform such duty in the manner required by the health laws of this state; or

(5) Being a local registrar, deputy registrar, or subregistrar, fail, neglect, or refuse to perform his duty as required by the health laws of this state, and by the instructions and directions of the state registrar thereunder;

Any person having duties enjoined upon him by the provisions of this article or other health laws of this state relating to the distribution of unclaimed dead bodies for scientific study who shall neglect, refuse or omit to perform the same as therein required must, on conviction, be fined not less than $100.00 nor more than $500.00 and may be imprisoned in the county jail or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not more than six months.

Every minister of the gospel or other person conducting religious services at a funeral shall inquire whether or not a burial or removal permit has been secured for the disposition of the body. Should it be found that a burial permit has not been secured, the undertaker or person in charge of the funeral shall be notified by said minister of the law governing the issuance of burial permits.

(a) This article may be cited as the Alabama Uniform Anatomical Gift Act of 1969.

(b) This article shall only apply to gifts made prior to January 1, 2004.

For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

(1) BANK or STORAGE FACILITY. A facility licensed, accredited or approved under the laws of any state for the storage of human bodies, or parts thereof.

(2) DECEDENT. A deceased individual and includes a stillborn infant or fetus.

(3) DONOR. An individual who makes a gift of all, or part of, his body.

(4) HOSPITAL. A hospital licensed under the laws of the State of Alabama, or any subdivision thereof, or under the laws and regulations of the United States government, or any agency thereof.

(5) PART. Organs, tissues, eyes, bones, arteries, blood or other fluids and any other portions of a human body.

(6) PERSON. An individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate trust, partnership or association or any other legal entity.

(7) PHYSICIAN or SURGEON. A physician or surgeon licensed or authorized to practice under the laws of any state.

(a) Any individual of sound mind and 18 years of age or older may give all, or any part of, his body for any purposes specified in Section 22-19-43, the gift to take effect upon death.

(b) Any of the following persons, in order of priority stated, when persons in prior classes are not available at the time of death, and in the absence of actual notice of contrary indications by the decedent or actual notice of opposition by a member of the same or a prior class, may give all, or any part of, the decedent's body for any purpose specified in Section 22-19-43:

(1) The spouse;

(2) An adult son or daughter;

(3) Either parent;

(4) An adult brother or sister;

(5) A guardian of the person of the deceased at the time of his death; or

(6) Any other person authorized or under obligation to dispose of the body.

(c) If the donee has actual notice of contrary indications by the decedent or that a gift by a member of a class is opposed by a member of the same or of a prior class, the donee shall not accept the gift. The persons authorized by subsection (b) of this section may make the gift after or immediately before death.

(d) A gift of all, or part of, a body authorizes any examination necessary to assure medical acceptability of the gift for the purposes intended.

(e) The rights of the donee created by the gift are paramount to the rights of others, except as provided by subsection (d) of Section 22-19-47.

The following persons may become donees of gifts of bodies, or parts thereof, for the purposes stated:

(1) Any hospital, surgeon or physician for medical or dental education, research, advancement or medical or dental science, therapy or transplantation;

(2) Any accredited medical or dental school or college or university for education, research, advancement of medical or dental science or therapy;

(3) Any bank or storage facility for medical or dental education, research, advancement of medical or dental science, therapy or transplantation; or

(4) Any specified individual for therapy or transplantation needed by him.

(a) A gift of all or part of the body under subsection (a) of Section 22-19-42 may be made by will. The gift becomes effective upon the death of the testator without waiting for probate. If the will is not probated, or if it is declared invalid for testamentary purposes, the gift, to the extent that it has been acted upon in good faith, is nevertheless valid and effective.

(b) A gift of all or part of the body under subsection (a) of Section 22-19-42 may also be made by document other than a will. The gift becomes effective upon the death of the donor. The document, which may be a card designed to be carried on the person, must be signed by the donor in the presence of two witnesses, who must sign the document in his presence. If the donor cannot sign, the document may be signed for him at his direction and in his presence and in the presence of two witnesses, who must sign the document in his presence. Delivery of the document of gift during the donor's lifetime is not necessary to make the gift valid.

(c) The gift may be made either to a specified donee or without naming a donee. If the donee is not named, the attending physician may accept as donee upon or following death. If the gift is made to a specified donee who is not available at the time and place of death, the attending physician may, in the absence of any expressed indication that the donor desired otherwise, accept the gift as donee. The physician who becomes a donee under this subsection shall not participate in the procedures for removing or transplanting a part.

(d) The donor may designate in his will, card or other document of gift the surgeon or physician to carry out the appropriate procedures. In the absence of a designation, or if the designee is not available, the donee or other person authorized to accept the gift may comply or authorize any surgeon or physician for the purpose.

(e) Any gift by a person designated in subsection (b) of Section 22-19-42 shall be made by a document signed by him or made by his telegraphic, recorded telephonic or other recorded message.

If the gift is made by the donor to a specified donee, the will, card or other document, or an executed copy thereof, may be delivered to the donee to expedite the appropriate procedures immediately after death. Delivery is not necessary to the validity of the gift. The will, card or other document, or an executed copy thereof, may be deposited in any hospital, bank or storage facility or registry office that accepts it for safekeeping or for facilitation of procedures after death. On request of any interested party upon, or after, the donor's death, the person in possession shall produce the document for examination.

(a) If the will, card or other document, or executed copy thereof, has been delivered to a specified donee, the donor may amend or revoke the gift by:

(1) The execution and delivery to the donee of a signed statement;

(2) An oral statement made in the presence of two persons and communicated to the donee;

(3) A statement during a terminal illness or injury addressed to an attending physician and communicated to the donee; or

(4) A signed card or document found on his person or in his effects.

(b) Any document of gift which has not been delivered to the donee may be revoked by the donor in the manner set out in subsection (a) of this section or by destruction, cancellation or mutilation of the document and all executed copies thereof.

(c) Any gift made by a will may also be amended or revoked in the manner provided for amendment or revocation of wills or as provided in subsection (a) of this section.

(a) The donee may accept or reject the gift. If the donee accepts a gift of the entire body, he may, subject to the terms of the gift, authorize embalming and the use of the body in funeral services. If the gift is of a part of the body, the donee, upon the death of the donor and prior to embalming, shall cause the part to be removed without unnecessary mutilation. After removal of the part, custody or the remainder of the body vests in the surviving spouse, next of kin or other persons under obligations to dispose of the body.

(b) The time of death shall be determined by a physician who attends the donor at his death or, if none, the physician who certifies the death. The physician shall not participate in the procedures for removing or transplanting a part.

(c) A person who acts in good faith in accord with the terms of this article or with the anatomical gift laws of another state or a foreign country is not liable for damages in any civil action or subject to prosecution in any criminal proceeding for his act.

(d) The provisions of this article are subject to the laws of this state prescribing powers and duties with respect to autopsies.

This article may be cited as the 'Alabama Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.'

As used in this article, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) ANATOMICAL GIFT. A donation of all or part of a human body to take effect upon or after death.

(2) DECEDENT. A deceased individual and includes a stillborn infant or fetus.

(3) DOCUMENT OF GIFT. A card, a statement attached to or imprinted on a motor vehicle operator's or chauffeur's license, a will, or other writing used to make an anatomical gift.

(4) DONOR. An individual who makes an anatomical gift of all or part of the individual's body.

(5) ENUCLEATOR. An individual who is licensed pursuant to Article 4, commencing with Section 34-13-150, of Chapter 13 of Title 34 or is certified pursuant to Article 6, commencing with Section 22-19-100.

(6) HOSPITAL. A facility licensed, accredited or approved as a hospital under the provisions of Article 2, commencing with Section 22-21-20, of Chapter 21 or a facility operated as a hospital by the United States government.

(7) LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIAL. A physician acting in the capacity of an area health officer, local health officer, or county health officer.

(8) PART. An organ, tissue, eye, bone, artery, blood, fluid, or other portion of a human body.

(9) PERSON. An individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, joint venture, association, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or any other legal or commercial entity.

(10) PHYSICIAN or SURGEON. An individual licensed by the Medical Licensure Commission of Alabama and authorized to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathy and surgery.

(11) PROCUREMENT ORGANIZATION. A person licensed, accredited, or approved under the laws of any state for procurement, distribution, or storage of human bodies or parts.

(12) STATE. A state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

(13) SURGEON's ASSISTANT. An individual who is licensed and certified as a surgeon's assistant by the State Board of Medical Examiners to remove or process a part.

(a) An individual who is at least 18 years of age may (1) make an anatomical gift for any of the purposes stated in subsection (a) of Section 22-19-56, (2) limit an anatomical gift to one or more of those purposes, or (3) refuse to make an anatomical gift.

(b) An anatomical gift may be made only by a document of gift signed by the donor. If the donor cannot sign, the document of gift shall be signed by another individual and by two witnesses, all of whom have signed at the direction and in the presence of the donor and of each other, and state that it has been so signed.

(c) If a document of gift is attached to or imprinted on a donor's motor vehicle operator's or chauffeur's license, the document of gift shall comply with subsection (b). Revocation, suspension, expiration, or cancellation of the license does not invalidate the anatomical gift.

(d) A document of gift may designate a particular physician or surgeon to carry out the appropriate procedures. In the absence of a designation or if the designee is not available, the donee or other person authorized to accept the anatomical gift may employ or authorize any physician, surgeon, surgeon's assistant, or enucleator to carry out the appropriate procedures.

(e) An anatomical gift by will takes effect upon death of the testator, whether or not the will is probated. If, after death, the will is declared invalid for testamentary purposes, the validity of the anatomical gift is unaffected.

(f) A donor may amend or revoke an anatomical gift, not made by will, only by any of the following methods:

(1) A signed statement.

(2) An oral statement made in the presence of two individuals.

(3) Any form of communication during a terminal illness or injury addressed to a physician or surgeon.

(4) The delivery of a signed statement to a specified donee to whom a document of gift had been delivered.

(g) The donor of an anatomical gift made by will may amend or revoke the gift in the manner provided for amendment or revocation of wills, or as provided in subsection (f).

(h) An anatomical gift that is not revoked by the donor before death is irrevocable and does not require the consent or concurrence of any person after the donor's death.

(i) An individual may refuse to make an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part by (1) a writing signed in the same manner as a document of gift, (2) a statement attached to or imprinted on a donor's motor vehicle operator's or chauffeur's license, or (3) any other writing used to identify the individual as refusing to make an anatomical gift. During a terminal illness or injury, the refusal may be an oral statement or other form of communication.

(j) In the absence of contrary indications by the donor, an anatomical gift of a part is neither a refusal to give other parts nor a limitation on an anatomical gift under Section 22-19-53 or on a removal or release of other parts under Section 22-19-54.

(k) In the absence of contrary indications by the donor, a revocation or amendment of an anatomical gift is not a refusal to make another anatomical gift. If the donor intends a revocation to be a refusal to make an anatomical gift, the donor shall make the refusal pursuant to subsection (i).

(a) Any member of the following classes of persons, in the order of priority listed, may make an anatomical gift of all or a part of the decedent's body for an authorized purpose, unless the decedent, at the time of death, has made an unrevoked refusal to make that anatomical gift:

(1) The spouse of the decedent.

(2) An adult son or daughter of the decedent.

(3) Either parent of the decedent.

(4) An adult brother or sister of the decedent.

(5) A grandparent of the decedent.

(6) A guardian of the person of the decedent at the time of death.

(b) An anatomical gift may not be made by a person listed in subsection (a) in any of the following instances:

(1) If a person in a prior class is available at the time of death to make an anatomical gift.

(2) If the person proposing to make an anatomical gift knows of a refusal or contrary indications by the decedent.

(3) If the person proposing to make an anatomical gift knows of an objection to making an anatomical gift by a member of the person's class or a prior class.

(c) An anatomical gift by a person authorized under subsection (a) shall be made by (1) a document of gift signed by the person or (2) the person's telegraphic, recorded telephonic, or other recorded message, or other form of communication from the person that is contemporaneously reduced to writing and signed by the recipient.

(d) An anatomical gift by a person authorized under subsection (a) may be revoked by any member of the same or a prior class if, before procedures have begun for the removal of a part from the body of the decedent, the physician, surgeon, surgeon's assistant, or enucleator removing the part knows of the revocation.

(e) A failure to make an anatomical gift under subsection (a) is not an objection to the making of an anatomical gift.

(a) The coroner or medical examiner may release and permit the removal of a part from a body within that official's custody, for transplantation or therapy, if each of the following requirements are met:

(1) The official has received a request for the part from a hospital, physician, surgeon, or procurement organization.

(2) The official has made a reasonable effort, taking into account the useful life of the part, to locate and examine the decedent's medical records and inform persons listed in subsection (a) of Section 22-19-53 of their option to make, or object to making, an anatomical gift.

(3) The official does not know of a refusal or contrary indication by the decedent or objection by a person having priority to act as listed in subsection (a) of Section 22-19-53.

(4) The removal will be by a physician, surgeon, surgeon's assistant, or certified procurement transplant coordinator certified by the American Board of Transplant Coordinators; but in the case of eyes, by one of them or by an enucleator.

(5) The removal will not interfere with any autopsy or investigation.

(6) The removal will be in accordance with accepted medical standards.

(7) Cosmetic restoration will be done, if appropriate.

(b) If the body is not within the custody of the coroner or medical examiner, the local public health officer may release and permit the removal of any part from a body in the local public health officer's custody for transplantation or therapy if the requirements of subsection (a) are met.

(c) An official releasing and permitting the removal of a part shall maintain a permanent record of the name of the decedent, the person making the request, the date and purpose of the request, the part requested, and the person to whom it was released.

(a) 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 18 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 and the attending physician consents, the person designated shall discuss with the patient the option to make or refuse to make an anatomical gift.

(b) 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 pursuant to subsection (a) of Section 22-19-53. 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 which may include consultation with the designated organ procurement organization, for a purpose specified in Section 22-19-56.

(c) The following persons shall make a reasonable search 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:

(1) A law enforcement officer, fireman, paramedic, or other emergency rescuer finding an individual whom the searcher believes is dead or near death.

(2) A hospital, upon the admission of an individual at or near the time of death, if there is not immediately available any other source of that information.

(d) If a document of gift or evidence of refusal to make an anatomical gift is located by the search required by subdivision (1) of subsection (c), 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.

(e) If, at or near the time of death of a patient, a hospital knows that an anatomical gift has been made pursuant to subsection (a) of Section 22-19-53 or a release and removal of a part has been permitted pursuant to Section 22-19-54, 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 implementation of the anatomical gift or release and removal of a part.

(a) All of the following persons may become donees of anatomical gifts for the purposes stated:

(1) A hospital, physician, surgeon, or procurement organization, for transplantation, therapy, medical or dental education, research, or advancement of medical or dental science.

(2) An accredited medical or dental school, college, or university for education, research, advancement of medical or dental science.

(3) A designated individual for transplantation or therapy needed by that individual.

(b) An anatomical gift may be made to a designated donee or without designating a donee. If a donee is not designated or if the donee is not available or rejects the anatomical gift, the anatomical gift may be accepted by any hospital.

(c) If the donee knows of the decedent's refusal or contrary indications to make an anatomical gift or that an anatomical gift by a member of a class having priority to act is opposed by a member of the same class or a prior class under subsection (a) of Section 22-19-53, the donee may not accept the anatomical gift.

(a) Delivery of a document of gift during the donor's lifetime is not required for the validity of an anatomical gift.

(b) If an anatomical gift is made to a designated donee, the document of gift, or a copy, may be delivered to the donee to expedite the appropriate procedures after death. The document of gift, or a copy, may be deposited in any hospital, procurement organization, or registry office that accepts it for safekeeping or for facilitation of procedures after death. On request of an interested person, upon or after the donor's death, the person in possession shall allow the interested person to examine or copy the document of gift.

(a) Rights of a donee created by an anatomical gift are superior to rights of others except with respect to autopsies under subsection (b) of Section 22-19-59.2. A donee may accept or reject an anatomical gift. If a donee accepts an anatomical gift of an entire body, the donee, subject to the terms of the gift, may allow embalming and use of the body in funeral services. If the gift is of a part of a body, the donee, upon the death of the donor and before embalming, shall cause the part to be removed without unnecessary mutilation. After removal of the part, custody of the remainder of the body vests in the person under obligation to dispose of the body.

(b) The time of death shall be determined by a physician or surgeon who attends the donor at death or, if none, the physician or surgeon who certifies the death. Neither the physician or surgeon who attends the donor at death nor the physician or surgeon who determines the time of death may participate in the procedures for removing or transplanting a part unless the document of gift designates a particular physician or surgeon pursuant to subsection (d) of Section 22-19-52.

(c) If there has been an anatomical gift, a surgeon's assistant may remove any donated parts and an enucleator may remove any donated eyes or parts of eyes, after determination of death by a physician or surgeon.

(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) Valuable consideration does not include reasonable payment for the removal, processing, disposal, preservation, quality control, storage, transportation, or implantation of a part.

(c) The violation of this section is a Class C felony.

(a) An anatomical gift authorizes any reasonable examination necessary to assure medical acceptability of the gift for the purposes intended.

(b) The provisions of this article are subject to the laws of this state governing autopsies.

(c) In the absence of wantonness, or willful misconduct, a hospital, physician, surgeon, coroner, medical examiner, local public health officer, enucleator, surgeon's assistant, or other person, who acts in accordance with this article or with the applicable anatomical gift law of another state or a foreign country or attempts in good faith to do so is not liable for that act in a civil action or criminal proceeding.

(d) In the absence of wantonness, or willful misconduct, an individual who makes an anatomical gift pursuant to Section 22-19-52 or Section 22-19-53 and the individual's estate are not liable for any injury or damage that may result from the making or the use of the anatomical gift.

The State Board of Health shall adopt rules under the Administrative Procedure Act to implement this article.

The Alabama Legislature will annually honor the memory of individuals who have made a 'gift of life' to another individual during the previous year by their generous donation pursuant to the Alabama Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.

This article applies to a document of gift, revocation, or refusal to make an anatomical gift signed by the donor or a person authorized to make or object to making an anatomical gift before, on, or after January 1, 2004.

This article shall be applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this article among states enacting it.

If any provision of this article or its application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this article which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this article are severable.

Each hospital in this state, after consultation with other hospitals and procurement organizations, shall establish agreements or affiliations for coordination of procurement and use of human bodies and parts.

(a) A gift of all or part of the body may be made by the holder of a valid Alabama Driver's License or nondriver identification card by the execution of a sworn affidavit to be filed with the Department of Public Safety.

(b) Notice of intent to make a gift shall be noted on the driver's license or nondriver identification card of the donor in a manner to be determined by the Department of Public Safety and there shall also be noted thereon the specific gift of the donor in accordance with the following legend:

E - Eye

K - Kidney

H - Heart

Li - Liver

L - Lungs

A - All (everything)

(c) The gift shall become effective on the death of the donor without any formal requirements of delivery.

(d) The affidavit shall be signed by the holder of the driver's license or nondriver identification card in the presence of two witnesses who shall acknowledge the affidavit in the presence of the donor.

(e) The gift shall become invalidated upon the expiration, cancellation, revocation or suspension of a driver's license or nondriver identification card.

(f) The gift shall not become invalidated if the driver's license or nondriver identification card is properly renewed before the expiration date.

(g) The amendatory provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall commence on the date of renewal of the driver's license or nondriver identification card of the donor.

The officers and employees of the Department of Public Safety shall be immune from any civil liability for any acts or omissions in carrying out the provisions of this division.

No later than January 1, 1998, the Department of Public Safety shall redesign the driver's license and nondriver identification card application system to process requests for information regarding consent of the individual to organ or tissue donation. The following question in the following substantial form shall be asked of each applicant at point of issuance or renewal site:

'Do you wish to have the organ donor designation printed on your driver's license?'

Only an affirmative response of an individual shall be noted on the front of the driver's license or nondriver identification card which shall clearly indicate the intent of the individual to donate his or her organs and tissue by the printing of the words 'ORGAN DONOR' on the front of the license or card.

A brochure provided by the federally certified Alabama Organ Procurement Organization that is a member of and abides by the rules and regulations of United Network for Organ Sharing explaining the method of expressing an intent to make an anatomical gift shall be given to each applicant or licensee at the time of application for a new driver's license or nondriver identification card. The brochure shall advise the applicant or licensee that he or she is under no compulsion to designate organ donation status on his or her driver's license or nondriver identification card and that he or she may wish to consult with family, friends, or clergy before doing so. The Director of Public Safety may undertake additional efforts, including education and awareness activities, to promote organ and tissue donation.

The Director of the Department of Public Safety shall designate a space on each driver's license and nondriver identification card issued where the licensee may place a sticker or decal to indicate in appropriate language that the owner of the license or card desires to be an organ donor. The Director of Public Safety shall specify a uniform sticker or decal for the purposes of this section and the sticker or decal shall be contained in the informational brochure provided for in Section 22-19-71. An organ donor sticker or decal may also be provided by any person, hospital, school medical group, or association interested in assisting in implementing organ donation designation, but the organ donor sticker shall meet the specifications as the director may provide by rule or regulation.

The Department of Public Safety shall quarterly electronically transfer statistical and demographic information including, but not limited to, the name, most recent address, and date of birth, if available, of any person who has a current driver's license or nondriver identification card and who has designated that he or she wishes to be an organ donor to the federally certified Alabama Organ Procurement Organization that is a member of and abides by the rules and regulations of the United Network for Organ Sharing.

The federally certified Alabama Organ Procurement Organization shall be responsible for all costs associated with the implementation of the electronic transfer of donor information and all transfers of donor information pursuant to this section.

Police and emergency personnel responding to the scene of an accident or trauma shall take reasonable steps to insure that the driver's license or nondriver identification card, donor card, or other document of gift and medical alert bracelet, if any, of the individual involved in the accident or trauma accompanies the individual to the hospital or other health care facility. If the individual dies, the hospital or other health care facility shall, within five days or as soon as practicable, return the driver's license or nondriver identification card to the Department of Public Safety accompanied by a form prescribed by the department.

(a) Each duly elected or appointed coroner in the State of Alabama is authorized to withdraw and retain or direct the withdrawal and retention of blood and/or urine from the dead body of a person who died unattended by a physician, or who died under suspicious circumstances, or where there is reasonable cause to believe the person died from unnatural and/or unlawful causes.

(b) Each duly elected or appointed deputy coroner shall have the same authority to withdraw and retain or direct the withdrawal and retention of a blood and/or urine sample when acting for the coroner.

(c) The State Toxicologist and his designated or appointed assistants are authorized to withdraw and retain or direct the withdrawal and retention of blood and/or urine from the dead body of a person who died unattended by a physician, or who died under suspicious circumstances, or where there is reasonable cause to believe the person died from unnatural and/or unlawful causes.

(d) A law enforcement officer investigating a fatal motor vehicle accident is authorized to direct the withdrawal and retention of blood and/or urine from the body of any such fatality.

(e) The purpose of any withdrawal and retention of blood and/or urine shall be for analyses or studies to assist in determining the cause, manner and circumstances of death, including a chemical or other test or tests for drugs and/or poisons.

Only a physician, registered nurse, duly licensed clinical laboratory technologist, clinical laboratory technician, mortician, licensed embalmer or licensed practicing embalmer may be directed by a coroner, deputy coroner, a law enforcement officer or the State Toxicologist or his designated or appointed assistants to withdraw blood and/or urine for the purpose or purposes cited in Section 22-19-80.

(a) No coroner, deputy coroner, the State Toxicologist and his designated or appointed assistants, mortician, licensed embalmer, physician, registered nurse, duly licensed clinical laboratory technologist or clinical laboratory technician or employers of the aforementioned persons shall incur any civil or criminal liability as a result of the proper withdrawal or securing or retention of a blood and/or urine specimen as provided by this article.

(b) The State Toxicologist and his designated or appointed assistants shall incur no civil or criminal liability as a result of the proper analyses or studies of blood and/or urine specimens withdrawn and retained as provided in this article.