Pennsylvania Act 1883-106 — UNCLAIMED CADAVERS, DISTRIBUTION AND DISPOSITION

Act text

UNCLAIMED CADAVERS, DISTRIBUTION AND DISPOSITION
                 Act of Jun. 13, 1883, P.L. 119, No. 106              Cl. 35
                                  AN ACT

     For the promotion of medical science by the distribution and use
        of unclaimed human bodies for scientific purposes through a
        board created for that purpose and to prevent unauthorized
        uses and traffic in human bodies.

        Section 1.  The professors, associate professors, and
     assistant professors in the department of anatomy, the head of
     the department of surgery, and the head of the department of
     pathology of each medical and dental school and each medical and
     dental college of this Commonwealth, which is now or may
     hereafter become incorporated, and the Secretary of Health of
     this Commonwealth shall be and hereby are constituted a board
     for the distribution and delivery of dead human bodies,
     hereinafter described, to and among such institutions and
     persons as, under the provisions of this act, are entitled
     thereto.
        The said board shall have full power to establish rules and
     regulations for its government, and to appoint and remove proper
     officers, except that the Secretary of Health shall always be a
     member of the executive committee of said board, and shall keep
     full and complete minutes of its transactions; and records shall
     also be kept under its direction of all bodies received and
     distributed by said board, and of the persons 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 county within this Commonwealth.
     The said board shall have full power to enter into contracts,
     make purchases, and perform such other acts as are necessary for
     the proper performance of its duties. All financial transactions
     of said board shall be audited annually by authority of, and by
     the Auditor General of the Commonwealth. A report of the
     activities of said board shall be made annually to the Secretary
     of Health of the Commonwealth, and to the deans of the medical
     and dental colleges represented in said board.
        The name of said board of distribution shall be--Humanity
     Gifts Registry.
        (1971 ACT 127 P.L. 520 SEC. 1)
        Section 2.  Notice To Board of Bodies in Institutions; Claims
     of Relations or Friends; Bodies of Soldiers, Sailors, and
     Marines; Burial of Paupers burial of paupers
        All public officers, agents, and servants, and all officers,
     agents, and servants of any and every county, city, township,
     borough, district, and other municipality, and of any and every
     almshouse, prison, morgue, hospital, or other municipality, or
     other public institution, and all other persons, having charge
     or control over dead human bodies required to be buried at the
     public expense, are hereby required to notify immediately the
     said board of distribution, or such person or persons as may,
     from time to time, be designated by said board or its duly
     authorized officer or agent, whenever any such body or bodies
     come to his or their possession, charge, or control; and shall,
     without fee or reward, deliver, within thirty-six hours after
     death, except those coroners' cases in which more time may be
     required, such body or bodies, and permit and suffer the said
     board and its agents to take and remove all such bodies to be
     used within the State for the advancement of medical science.
        Such notice shall be given to the board of distribution in
     all cases, but no such body shall be delivered, if any relative
     by blood or marriage shall claim the body for burial, at the
     expense of such relative, within thirty-six hours after death,
     but the body shall be surrendered to said claimant for
     interment; nor shall any such body be delivered, if any friend,
     or any representative of a fraternal society of which deceased
     was a member, or a representative of any charitable
     organization, shall claim the said body for burial within
     thirty-six hours after death; said burial to be at the expense
     of such friend, fraternal society, or charitable organization;
     nor shall the body be delivered if said person was an honorably
     discharged soldier, sailor, or marine of the United States, or
     of the militia of the State of Pennsylvania; in which case said
     body shall be buried in accordance with the provisions of
     existing laws.
        In case of the death of any person whose body is required to
     be buried at the public expense, and the duly authorized officer
     or agent of the board deems such body unfit for anatomical
     purposes, he shall notify in writing the county commissioners in
     counties of the first class and the executive officers of the
     county institution district in all other counties where such
     person died, and who shall direct some person to take charge of
     the body of such deceased indigent person, and cause it to be
     buried; and draw warrants upon the treasurer of their county for
     the payment of such expenses, which expenses shall not be more
     than fifty dollars in counties of the first class and second
     class, and not more than seventy-five dollars in all other
     counties on each body buried in accordance with the provisions
     of this act. Such warrants shall be made payable to the persons
     so authorized and directed, who shall have buried the bodies for
     which said warrants are to be drawn. No warrants for the payment
     of the expenses of the burial of any person whose body is
     required to be buried at the public expense shall be drawn or
     paid except upon the certificate of the duly authorized officer
     or agent of the board, to the effect that such body is unfit for
     anatomical purposes or that the body is that of a soldier,
     sailor, or marine of the United States or of the militia of the
     State of Pennsylvania required to be buried at the public
     expense, and that the provisions of this act have been complied
     with.
        Wherever, through the failure of any person to notify and
     deliver the body of a deceased indigent as required by this act,
     such body shall become unfit for anatomical purposes, and is so
     certified by the duly authorized officer or agent of said board
     of distribution, such body shall be buried at the expense of the
     person so failing to notify and deliver such body.  1883, June
     13, P.L. 119, Sec. 2; 1915, May 14, P.L. 479, Sec. 1; 1919, May
     14, P.L. 506, Sec. 2; 1919, May 8, P.L. 152, Sec. 1; 1921, April
     20, P.L. 167, Sec. 1; 1937, April 22, P.L. 411, Sec. 2; 1939,
     June 15, P.L. 369, Sec. 1; 1945, May 18, P.L. 701, No. 303, Sec.
     1.
        Section 3.  Distribution of Bodies Regulated
        The said board, or their duly authorized agent, may take and
     receive such bodies so delivered as aforesaid, and shall, upon
     receiving them, distribute and deliver them proportionally and
     equitably to and among the medical and dental schools and
     medical and dental colleges of the Commonwealth. If additional
     bodies are available beyond the needs of the medical and dental
     schools and colleges of the Commonwealth, such bodies may be
     distributed upon request to physicians and surgeons and to other
     schools and colleges giving courses in science in which the use
     of cadaveric material would be advantageous, or may be loaned
     for demonstration or examination purposes to the State Examining
     Boards, and to recognized associations of licensed undertakers.
     The cost of such bodies, including preparation, special
     handling, and a proportionate share of the overhead cost of the
     board, shall be collected by said board from such physicians,
     surgeons, schools, colleges, State Examining Boards, and
     associations of licensed undertakers, to whom or to which bodies
     are distributed or loaned.  1883, June 13, P.L. 119, Sec. 3;
     1897, April 29, P.L. 36, Sec. 1; 1921, April 20, P.L. 167, Sec.
     2; 1937, April 22, P.L. 411, Sec. 3.
        Section 4.  Employment of Carriers
        The said board may employ a carrier or carriers for the
     conveyance of said bodies, which bodies shall be well enclosed
     within a suitable encasement, and carefully deposited free from
     public observation.  Said carrier shall give a receipt
     containing the name of the person, or if the person be unknown a
     description of each body received by him, and shall deposit a
     duplicate receipt with secretary of said board.  1883, June 13,
     P.L. 119, Sec. 4; 1937, April 22, P.L. 411, Sec. 4.
        Section 5.  Schools to Give Bond Before Receiving Bodies
        No university, school, college, physician, surgeon, or
     association shall be allowed or permitted to receive any such
     body or bodies until a bond, approved as to form by the Attorney
     General, shall have been given to the board by such physician or
     surgeon, or by or in behalf of such university, school, college,
     or association, which bond shall be in the penal sum of one
     thousand dollars, conditioned that all such bodies which the
     said physician or surgeon, or the said university, school,
     college, or association shall receive thereafter shall be used
     only for the promotion of medical science within this State, and
     whosoever shall sell or buy such body or bodies, or part or
     parts of such body or bodies, or in any way traffic in the same,
     or shall transmit or convey or cause to procure to be
     transmitted or conveyed said body or bodies, or part or parts of
     such body or bodies, to any place outside of this State, shall
     be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall on conviction, be
     liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars, or be
     imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year; but this section
     shall not be construed as prohibiting any physician or dentist
     licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of
     Pennsylvania, or the members of the board, from transporting
     human specimens outside of the State for their temporary use at
     scientific meetings or exhibits.  1883, June 13, P.L. 119, Sec.
     5; 1937, April 22, P.L. 411, Sec. 5.
        Section 6.  Expenses of Delivery; Payment by Receivers of
     Bodies; Use of Funds by Board
        Neither the Commonwealth nor any county or municipality, nor
     any almshouse, prison, morgue, hospital, or other public
     institution, nor any officer, agent or servant thereof, nor any
     person or persons having possession of an unclaimed dead human
     body, shall be at any expense by reason of the delivery or
     distribution of any such body, but all the expenses thereof and
     of said board of distribution, except as provided in section
     three of this act, shall be paid equitably by universities,
     schools, and colleges regularly receiving the bodies, under such
     rules and regulations as the board may, from time to time,
     provide. All moneys received or collected by the board under
     this act shall be used by the board for the payment of all
     expenses incurred in the performance of its duties under this
     act.  1883, June 13, P.L. 119, Sec. 6; 1931, June 1, P.L. 316,
     Sec. 1; 1933, May 22, P.L. 849, Sec. 1; 1937, April 22, P.L.
     411, Sec. 6.
        Section 7.  Punishment for Violation of Act
        Any person having duties enjoined upon him by the provisions
     of this act, who shall neglect, refuse or omit to perform the
     same as hereby required, shall on conviction thereof, be liable
     to fine of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred
     dollars for each offense.  1883, June 13, P.L. 119, Sec. 7.