The Florida Senate

765.522  Duty of certain hospital administrators; liability of hospital administrators, organ procurement organizations, eye banks, and tissue banks.--

(1)  When used in this section, "hospital" means any establishment licensed under chapter 395 except psychiatric and rehabilitation hospitals.

(2)  Where, based on accepted medical standards, a hospital patient is a suitable candidate for organ or tissue donation, the hospital administrator or the hospital administrator's designee shall, at or near the time of death, access the organ and tissue donor registry created by s. 765.515(4) to ascertain the existence of a donor card or document executed by the decedent. In the absence of a donor card, organ donation sticker or organ donation imprint on a driver's license, or other properly executed document, the hospital administrator or designee shall request:

(a)  The patient's health care surrogate, as permitted in s. 765.512(2); or

(b)  If the patient does not have a surrogate, or the surrogate is not reasonably available, any of the persons specified in s. 765.512(3), in the order and manner of priority stated in s. 765.512(3),

to consent to the gift of all or any part of the decedent's body for any purpose specified in this part. Except as provided in s. 765.512, in the absence of actual notice of opposition, consent need only be obtained from the person or persons in the highest priority class reasonably available.

(3)  A gift made pursuant to a request required by this section shall be executed pursuant to s. 765.514

(4)  The Agency for Health Care Administration shall establish rules and guidelines concerning the education of individuals who may be designated to perform the request and the procedures to be used in making the request. The agency is authorized to adopt rules concerning the documentation of the request, where such request is made.

(5)  There shall be no civil or criminal liability against any organ procurement organization, eye bank, or tissue bank certified under s. 381.6022, or against any hospital or hospital administrator or designee, when complying with the provisions of this part and the rules of the Agency for Health Care Administration or when, in the exercise of reasonable care, a request for organ donation is inappropriate and the gift is not made according to this part and the rules of the Agency for Health Care Administration.

(6)  The hospital administrator or a designee shall, at or near the time of death of a potential organ donor, directly notify the affiliated Health Care Financing Administration designated organ procurement organization of the potential organ donor. This organ procurement organization must offer any organ from such a donor first to patients on a Florida-based local or state organ sharing transplant list. For the purpose of this subsection, the term "transplant list" includes certain categories of national or regional organ sharing for patients of exceptional need or exceptional match, as approved or mandated by the United Network for Organ Sharing. This notification must not be made to a tissue bank or eye bank in lieu of the organ procurement organization unless the tissue bank or eye bank is also a Health Care Financing Administration designated organ procurement organization.

History.--s. 1, ch. 86-212; s. 2, ch. 87-372; s. 13, ch. 95-423; s. 980, ch. 97-102; s. 12, ch. 98-68; s. 15, ch. 99-331; s. 75, ch. 2001-226.

Note.--Former s. 732.922.