Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1186 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Huffman S.B. No. 1186
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2013; March 12, 2013, read
3	3	first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services;
4	4	April 8, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
5	5	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 8, 2013,
6	6	sent to printer.)
7	7	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1186 By: Huffman
8	8
9	9
10	10	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
11	11	AN ACT
12	12	relating to the use by a medical examiner of certain medical waste
13	13	and autopsy records.
14	14	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	15	SECTION 1. Article 49.25, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
16	16	amended by adding Section 13B to read as follows:
17	17	Sec. 13B. EDUCATION AND RESEARCH. (a) For purposes of
18	18	this section, "medical waste" has the meaning assigned to the term
19	19	"special waste from health care-related facilities" by Department
20	20	of State Health Services rule, except that the term does not
21	21	include:
22	22	(1) waste produced on a farm or ranch as defined by
23	23	Section 151.316, Tax Code; or
24	24	(2) artificial, nonhuman materials removed from a
25	25	patient and requested by the patient, including orthopedic devices
26	26	and breast implants.
27	27	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a medical examiner
28	28	may use tissue that is removed from a body during an autopsy to
29	29	perform educational, diagnostic, or research activities after the
30	30	autopsy is completed if the tissue is medical waste. These
31	31	activities may be conducted in collaboration with a nationally
32	32	recognized research or educational institution. Tissue that is
33	33	used must be anonymized in accordance with applicable federal
34	34	research standards.
35	35	(c) Research activities conducted in collaboration with a
36	36	nationally recognized research or educational institution must be
37	37	reviewed, in each case, by an institutional review board for
38	38	compliance with applicable state and federal law, including laws
39	39	requiring informed consent and anonymization of tissue and
40	40	prohibiting the sale of body parts.
41	41	(d) A medical examiner may not use tissue under Subsection
42	42	(b) to perform educational, diagnostic, or research activities
43	43	after the autopsy is completed unless informed consent has been
44	44	obtained from the decedent or a guardian, next of kin, or person
45	45	authorized to make an anatomical gift of the decedent's body under
46	46	Section 692A.009, Health and Safety Code. Informed consent for use
47	47	of the tissue is not required if at the completion of the autopsy
48	48	and release of the body the decedent does not have a known guardian,
49	49	next of kin, or person authorized to make an anatomical gift of the
50	50	decedent's body. In the event the overseeing medical examiner or
51	51	medical examiner's office is unable to contact the decedent's
52	52	guardian, next of kin, or a person who is authorized to make an
53	53	anatomical gift of the decedent's body within 90 days of the
54	54	decedent's death, informed consent for use of the tissue is not
55	55	required.
56	56	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
57	57	* * * * *