Prohibits, in N.Y. city, delivery of an unclaimed body to a university, college, school or institute, unless consent of the deceased or person authorized to control disposition has been granted

1 Co-sponsor

• Martin J. Golden

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to limiting the release of a body to a university, college, school or institute in a city having a population of one million or more

Purpose

This bill would prohibit the release and delivery of an unclaimed body to a university, college, school, or institute for embalming, dissection, or autopsy until the written consent of the deceased person's spouse or next of kin is acquired.

Summary of provisions

This bill would add a new subdivisions 3-a to section 4211 of the public health law, to prohibit the delivery and release of a body to a university, college, school, institute or mortuary school for unless the person authorized to control the disposition of the body of such decedent, or the decedent him or herself before he or she died, consents in writing.

This bill would further provide that the university, college, school, institute or mortuary school desiring custody of the body shall have the duty to locate and obtain the consent required.

Existing law

Presently, law demands the release of an unclaimed body to schools for study without the written consent from the deceased persons spouse or next of kin within 48-hours.

Justification

Under existing law, the director or person in charge of any hospital, institution, morgue or other place for bodies of deceased persons not interred or otherwise finally disposed of must deliver an unclaimed body in their possession, charge, custody or control to an accredited medical college, school or institute, university and mortuary school, etc., for dissection, autopsy or study.

The unclaimed bodies can be turned over as soon as 48 hours after death. However, there are many instances where a body is unclaimed because the spouse or next of kin is not aware of the death of their loved one and such spouse or next of kin is not located or notified. To make matters worse, there are additional instances where the spouse or next of kin, if notified, would have objected for religious reasons to the embalming or dissection and would have taken the body for burial according to their religious customs.

To avoid this tragic situation from happening in the future, this bill would require the written consent of a spouse or next of kin before an unclaimed body can be released to a university, college, school, institute or mortuary school for the purpose of embalming, dissection or autopsy. This bill would only apply to the City of New York

Legislative history

2015: S.4430-B - Passed Senate (62-1)

Fiscal implications

None Noted

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the delivery and release of bodies on and after such date.