Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 50. HEALTH AND SAFETY

CHAPTER 21. CADAVERS AND AUTOPSIES

Part 1. General Provisions

Procedure To Procure Cadavers

50-21-102. Procedure to procure cadavers. The procedure to procure a human body for use in teaching and demonstrations of anatomy is as follows:

(1) A medical school shall apply to the person or organization that has custody of the unclaimed body asking that the body be delivered to the school for teaching and demonstration of anatomy.

(2) The medical school shall file a notarized statement with the department of public health and human services showing that proper equipment is available for proper handling, security, and preservation of human bodies.

(3) The body must be kept at the unit, institution, or hospital for at least 3 weeks after the date of death before it can be used.

(4) The medical school shall pay the costs of special preparation and transportation of the body.

(5) A burial permit must accompany each body, and the medical school shall properly register the body and arrange for burial by a licensed mortician at the expense of the medical school.

(6) If there was no request by the deceased person that the deceased's body be buried immediately, the person or organization that has custody may deliver an unclaimed body to the medical school applying.

(7) The medical school shall file a statement with the department stating that the body will be used only for teaching and demonstration of anatomy.

(8) A licensed physician or podiatrist shall contract with a nationally accredited nontransplant anatomic bank for the delivery and disposal of an anatomic specimen for the purposes of conducting anatomical dissection or surgical demonstration and training. The specimen must be delivered to a hospital or surgical center licensed by the state.

History: En. Sec. 154, Ch. 197, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 105, Ch. 349, L. 1974; R.C.M. 1947, 69-5102; amd. Sec. 123, Ch. 418, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 300, Ch. 546, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 318, L. 2017.