STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2356
Honolulu, Hawaii
President of the Senate
Twenty-Sixth State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2818 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISPOSITION OF DEAD HUMAN BODIES,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to repeal the authority of the Department of Health to deliver or distribute an unclaimed dead human body to a university, hospital, or institution for medical educational and research purposes, and to clarify the responsibilities of the person who has possession, charge, or control of an unclaimed dead human body with respect to gathering and providing information to state agencies for burial or cremation of the body at public expense.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Department of Human Services, and one individual.
Your Committees find that the disposition of unclaimed corpses for research or educational purposes does not enhance or protect the dignity of either the institution or the decedent, who had no choice in the matter, nor does it reflect contemporary community standards of practice. Your Committees further find that the University of Hawaii utilizes only willfully expressed and documented anatomical gifts, so access to medical cadavers for educational and research purposes will not be affected by this measure. Your Committees also find that this measure will improve efficiency in administrative practices by consolidating the process of applying for the burial or cremation of an unclaimed dead human body at public expense within the Department of Human Services.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2818 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services,
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SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair |
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JOSH GREEN, M.D., Chair |
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