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| To amend sections 2105.35, 2108.07, and 2108.30 of | 1 |
| the Revised Code to authorize registered nurses to | 2 |
| determine and pronounce death. | 3 |
| Section 1. That sections 2105.35, 2108.07, and 2108.30 of the | 4 |
| Revised Code be amended to read as follows: | 5 |
| Sec. 2105.35. (A)(1) A person is dead if the person has been | 6 |
| determined and pronounced to be dead pursuant to standards | 7 |
| established under section 2108.30 of the Revised Code. | 8 |
| (2) A physician or registered nurse who makes a determination | 9 |
| and pronouncement of death in accordance with section 2108.30 of | 10 |
| the Revised Code and any person who acts in good faith in reliance | 11 |
| on a determination and pronouncement of death made by a physician | 12 |
| or registered nurse in accordance with that section is entitled to | 13 |
| the immunity conveyed by that section. | 14 |
| (B) A certified or authenticated copy of a death certificate | 15 |
| purporting to be issued by an official or agency of the place | 16 |
| where the death of a person purportedly occurred is prima-facie | 17 |
| evidence of the fact, place, date, and time of the person's death | 18 |
| and the identity of the decedent. | 19 |
| (C) A certified or authenticated copy of any record or report | 20 |
| of a domestic or foreign governmental agency that a person is | 21 |
| missing, detained, dead, or alive is prima-facie evidence of the | 22 |
| status and of the dates, circumstances, and places disclosed by | 23 |
| the record or report. | 24 |
| (D) In the absence of prima-facie evidence of death under | 25 |
| division (B) or (C) of this section, the fact of death may be | 26 |
| established by clear and convincing evidence, including | 27 |
| circumstantial evidence. | 28 |
| (E) Except as provided in division (F) of this section, a | 29 |
| presumption of the death of a person arises: | 30 |
| (1) When the person has disappeared and been continuously | 31 |
| absent from the person's place of last domicile for a five-year | 32 |
| period without being heard from during the period; | 33 |
| (2) When the person has disappeared and been continuously | 34 |
| absent from the person's place of last domicile without being | 35 |
| heard from and was at the beginning of the person's absence | 36 |
| exposed to a specific peril of death, even though the absence has | 37 |
| continued for less than a five-year period. | 38 |
| (F) When a person who is on active duty in the armed services | 39 |
| of the United States has been officially determined to be absent | 40 |
| in a status of "missing" or "missing in action," a presumption of | 41 |
| death arises when the head of the federal department concerned has | 42 |
| made a finding of death pursuant to the "Federal Missing Persons | 43 |
| Act," 80 Stat. 625 (1966), 37 U.S.C.A. 551, as amended. | 44 |
| (G) In the absence of evidence disputing the time of death | 45 |
| stipulated on a document described in division (B) or (C) of this | 46 |
| section, a document described in either of those divisions that | 47 |
| stipulates a time of death one hundred twenty hours or more after | 48 |
| the time of death of another person, however the time of death of | 49 |
| the other person is determined, establishes by clear and | 50 |
| convincing evidence that the person survived the other person by | 51 |
| one hundred twenty hours. | 52 |
| (H) The provisions of divisions (A) to (G) of this section | 53 |
| are in addition to any other provisions of the Revised Code, the | 54 |
| Rules of Criminal Procedure, or the Rules of Evidence that pertain | 55 |
| to the determination of death and status of a person. | 56 |
| Sec. 2108.07. A donee may accept or reject an anatomical | 57 |
| gift. If a donee accepts an anatomical gift of an entire body, the | 58 |
| surviving spouse or next of kin may, after consultation with the | 59 |
| donee and subject to the terms of the anatomical gift, allow the | 60 |
| embalming and use of the body in funeral services. If the | 61 |
| anatomical gift is of a part of a body, the donee, upon the death | 62 |
| of the donor and prior to embalming, shall cause the part to be | 63 |
| removed without unnecessary disfigurement. After removal of the | 64 |
| part, the custody of the remainder of the body vests in the | 65 |
| surviving spouse, next of kin, or other persons under obligation | 66 |
| to dispose of the body. | 67 |
| (B) The physician or registered nurse who | 68 |
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and pronounces the death of the donor | 69 |
| physician who certifies the death shall determine the time of | 70 |
| death of the donor and record the time in writing. The physician | 71 |
| or registered nurse determining and pronouncing the time of death | 72 |
| or the physician certifying the death shall not participate in the | 73 |
| procedures for removing or transplanting a part. | 74 |
| Sec. 2108.30. (A)(1) An individual is dead if | 75 |
| individual has sustained either irreversible cessation of | 76 |
| circulatory and respiratory functions or irreversible cessation of | 77 |
| all functions of the brain, including the brain stem, as | 78 |
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determined in accordance with
accepted medical standards. | 79 |
| Except as provided in division (A)(2) of this section, the | 80 |
| determination and pronouncement of an individual's death may be | 81 |
| made by either a physician or registered nurse. A registered nurse | 82 |
| is not authorized to complete any portion of the individual's | 83 |
| death certificate. | 84 |
| (2) If the respiratory and circulatory functions of a person | 85 |
| are being artificially sustained, under accepted medical standards | 86 |
| a determination that death has occurred is made by a physician by | 87 |
| observing and conducting a test to determine that the irreversible | 88 |
| cessation of all functions of the brain has occurred. | 89 |
| (B) A physician or registered nurse who makes a determination | 90 |
| and pronouncement of death in accordance with this section and | 91 |
| accepted medical standards is not liable for damages in any civil | 92 |
| action or subject to prosecution in any criminal proceeding for | 93 |
| 94 | |
| others based on that determination and pronouncement. | 95 |
| Any person who acts in good faith in reliance on a | 96 |
| determination and pronouncement of death made by a physician or | 97 |
| registered nurse in accordance with this section and accepted | 98 |
| medical standards is not liable for damages in any civil action or | 99 |
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subject to prosecution in any
criminal proceeding for | 100 |
| person's actions. | 101 |
| Section 2. That existing sections 2105.35, 2108.07, and | 102 |
| 2108.30 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed. | 103 |