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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Editorial

Letter From the Editor

Global Perspectives

The Evolution of Eye Banking and Regulatory Standards in Canada

Original Research

Medical Examiner and Eye Banks as Partners for Transplantation in the United States

Donor Designation Impact on the Availability of Transplantable Allografts in the United States

Eye Donation Project: Differences Between Donors Versus Refusers

Descemet’s Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty Using Donor Tissue From Donors With a History of Laser In Situ Keratomileusis or Photorefractive Keratectomy

Cornea donation in Denmark

Medical Examiner and Eye Banks as Partners for Transplantation in the United States

Authors

Valerie Corder, RN, CTBS, Jill Urban, MD, Ellen Heck, MT (ASCP), MA, CEBT

Abstract

In the United States many eye donors fall under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner, who in the course of routine duties for death investigation, is also the gatekeeper of these valued potential donations. Collaboration and communication between the Medical Examiner and the eye bank are critical in preserving evidence and complying with standards and protocols for eye banking, particularly as it relates to timely accessibility for recovery.  This review outlines some of the areas of the death investigation which are crucial to the Medical Examiner’s ability to determine cause of death and eye banks must be sensitive to the presence of death investigation evidence. The confidence of the Medical Examiner in the eye bank’s ability to preserve evidence, such as vitreous collection, allows for the development of policies and protocols to meet the needs of both entities.

The National Academy of Medical Examiners has expressed support for the donation process that eye banks can build upon in forming positive relations with the Medical Examiner.

References

Eye Bank Association of America [Internet] Available from: http://www.restoresight.org/about-us/frequently-asked-questions/

Transplant Services Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center: 2014 Statistics for Dallas, Collin and Tarrant County Medical Examiners.

Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (2006) Section 22 and 23

Eye Bank Association of America, Medical Standards, 2011, D1.600

Michele Goodwin, Rethinking Legislative Consent Law?, 5 DePaul J. Health Care L. 257, 274-75, 278

David Orentlicher, Presumed Consent to Organ Donation: Its Rise and Fall in the United States, Rutgers Law Review, Vol 61:2, 300

Uniform Anatomical Gift Act Section 4 (1987), Section 4 (a)(b)

David Orentlicher, Presumed Consent to Organ Donation: Its Rise and Fall in the United States, Rutgers Law Review, Vol 61:2, 303

Ga. Lions Eye Bank v Lavant, 335 S.E.2d 127, 128 (Ga. 1985)

State v. Powell, 497 So. 2d 1188, 1191 (Fla. 1986)

Emile J. Farge et al., the Impact of State Legislation on Eye Banking, 112 Archives Opthamology 180, 181 (1994)

Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (2006), Sections 22 and 23

Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (2006), Section 9

Pinckard JK, Wetli CV, Graham MA, National Association of Medical Examiners. National Association of Medical Examiners position paper on the medical examiner release of organs and tissues for transplantation. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2007 Sep; 28(3):202-7.

 

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