State’s attorneys, medical examiners and coroners (ME/Cs), and law enforcement officials play key roles in ensuring that Illinois patients and families are not unreasonably denied the opportunity to participate in the miracle of organ and tissue transplantation. Preserving and protecting this opportunity for all Illinois patients and their families requires close and careful collaboration among many parties, including: the patient’s family, Gift of Hope (the federally-designated organ recovery service provider), hospitals, health care providers, ME/Cs, law enforcement, and state’s attorneys.
Effective cooperation saves the lives of countless patients in need of organ transplantation and ensures that all available forensic and pathological evidence is collected and preserved. In many cases, organ and tissue donation can provide information that would not otherwise be available. The Shared Recovery Protocol for Medical Examiner/Coroner Cases describes how this essential process occurs.
An anatomical gift is the donation of an individual’s body to medical science after death. Donation of one’s body to medical education provides an opportunity for future health professionals to study human anatomy and develop an appreciation of the form, function and beauty of the human body.
The Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois is the authorized representative of eight medical schools within the State of Illinois. As such, its sole function is to procure, prepare and preserve bodies for medical study.