(a) A coroner and a state medical examiner shall cooperate with procurement organizations to maximize the opportunity to recover anatomical gifts for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education. (b) If a coroner or a state medical examiner receives notice from a procurement organization that an anatomical gift might be available or was made with respect to a decedent whose body is under the jurisdiction of the coroner or state medical examiner and a postmortem examination is going to be performed, unless the coroner or state medical examiner denies recovery under AS 13.52.257, the coroner, the state medical examiner, or a designee shall conduct a postmortem examination of the body or the part in a manner and within a period compatible with its preservation for the purposes of the gift. (c) A part may not be removed from the body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of a coroner or a state medical examiner for transplantation, therapy, research, or education unless the part is the subject of an anatomical gift. The body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the coroner or state medical examiner may not be delivered to a person for research or education unless the part is the subject of an anatomical gift. The body of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the coroner or state medical examiner may not be delivered to a person for research or education unless the body is the subject of an anatomical gift. This subsection does not preclude a coroner or the state medical examiner from performing the medicolegal investigation on the body or parts of a decedent under the jurisdiction of the coroner or state medical examiner.
Alaska Legal Code