2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 150 - Donations and Transplants (§§ 3601-3619 — 3620y) › § 3620d - Donors

(a) Any person eighteen (18) years of age or older and in full use of his mental faculties may donate his entire body or any part thereof to the persons, institutions, or entities included in §§ 3620-3620y of this title for purposes of clinical autopsies, anatomical research, or to be used to assist in the progress of medical science and annex branches for teaching purposes or for the transplant or rehabilitation of part of tissues of the human body that are sick, damaged, or degenerated. Said donation shall be effective after the death of the donor, except in the case of donation of organs or tissues to be transplanted from one living person to another.
(b) Any sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) year old minor may donate blood in any blood collection entity or institution authorized for such purpose by §§ 3620-3620y of this title, upon written consent from the minor’s father, mother, custodian, or legal guardian. Furthermore, a medical examination shall be required to be carried out by the blood collection entity or legally authorized institution that certifies the minor’s eligibility to donate blood. Nothing provided herein shall be construed to hold any blood bank, hospital, or other recovering entity, its agents, and employees harmless against claims for damages caused by collecting blood from a minor.
(c) The following persons, in the order indicated and excluding any other relative, may dispose of all or part of the body of a deceased person for the purposes of §§ 3620-3620y of this title; the power of the persons called to authorize the donation may only be executed in the absence of an express statement of the deceased indicating his intention to donate or not his organs or tissues. The order for the purposes of §§ 3620-3620y of this title is the following:
(1) The widow/er or surviving spouse who cohabited with the other spouse at the time of his/her death.
(2) The oldest child and, in his/her absence or disability, the next in age, provided he/she is of legal age.
(3) The father or mother with whom the deceased lived.
(4) The grandfather or grandmother with whom the deceased lived.
(5) The oldest of the siblings with double consanguinity and, in the absence thereof, the oldest of the half siblings.
(6) The guardian of the deceased at the time of death or the relative or private person who has cared for the deceased during his life.
(7) Any person or entity authorized or compelled by law to dispose of the body.
(d) When the person called to give the authorization is not physically available to do so, said person may give the authorization verbally by telephone or facsimile. Said authorization may be recorded with the consent of the authorizing person. This provision shall not apply to the father, mother, or legal guardian of sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) year old minors who wish to donate blood, whose authorization shall always be in writing.
(e) The Forensic Sciences Institute, hospital, or physician in charge of the autopsy or of removing an organ or tissue for transplantation is hereby released of liability if the person who alleges to be authorized to dispose in whole or in part of the body of the deceased, pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, subsequently turns out to be not legally empowered to do so. The legality of the power of the person described in subsection (c) of this section to dispose in whole or in part of the body of the deceased shall be verified by the Institute of Forensic Sciences, hospital, or physician in charge of the autopsy through a sworn statement indicating in detail the measures taken to corroborate said legal standing.
History —Dec. 25, 2002, No. 296, § 6; Aug. 25, 2012, No. 210, § 2.