Senate gives final passage to organ donor bill

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – The Senate gave final passage today to a measure designed to facilitate organ donations in Kentucky.

Known as House Bill 84, it would require coroners or medical examiners to release identifying and other relevant information about a deceased person to Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, or KODA, if the person’s wish to be an organ donor is known and the body is suitable for medical transplant or therapy.

“This will save a lot of lives,” said Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, who presented HB 84 on the Senate floor.

Sen. Dorsey Ridley, D-Henderson, said HB 84 strengthens legislation passed in 2006 that enabled Kentucky residents to have their wishes documented through the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry.

“This closes a loophole in the current law,” he said. “Currently, organ and tissue procurement organization are often not being notified of a registered organ donor’s death if the death takes place out of a hospital. This means registered organ donors’ wishes are not always followed.”

That’s what happened with Courtney Flear, whose death inspired HB 84. The 19-year-old Caldwell County teenager died in a car wreck in January of 2015. No procurement organizations were notified of her death despite the fact she was a registered organ donor in Kentucky. Courtney had registered through the Kentucky Circuit Court Clerks’ Trust for Life when she renewed her driver’s license.

While her the traumatic nature of the wreck meant Courtney’s internal organs were not viable for donation, Ridley said Courtney’s parents believe she was a candidate for tissue donation that could have helped up to 50 people.

In most cases, an organ donor must die in a hospital setting while on life support for his or her organs to be viable for transplant. That is not the case, however, with heart valves, skin, bone, corneas and the large saphenous vein. Those can all be harvested within 24 hours of death.

HB 84 passed by a 30-0 vote. It now goes the governor for his signature.

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Media release from the Legislative Research Commission.