In order to expedite the process of cadaver organ donation, the government has passed an order allowing organ retrieval in cases of brain death even before the post-mortem has been conducted.
Most cadaver organ donors are victims of road traffic accidents or other unnatural deaths, which come under the category of medico-legal cases. This necessitates police inquest followed by a post-mortem before the body is released to relatives.
However, considering the urgency of organ retrieval if the organs were to be donated for transplantation, it has now been decreed that in medico-legal cases, the investigation officer (IO) will be required to come to the hospital and conduct the inquest there, at the police outpost or designated police station of the hospital. On receipt of ‘Death Intimation' certificate, the IO will conduct the inquest and determine whether a post-mortem is required.
If the post-mortem examination is not required, then organ retrieval may take place.
