Sec. 1. The following definitions apply throughout this chapter:

(1) “Adult” means an individual at least eighteen (18) years of age.

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Terms Used In Indiana Code 29-2-16.1-1

  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Donor: The person who makes a gift.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the commonwealths, possessions, states in free association with the United States, and the territories. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
(2) “Agent” means an individual who is:

(A) authorized to make health care decisions on behalf of another person by a health care power of attorney under IC 30-5-5-16 or a health care representative under IC 16-36-7; or

(B) expressly authorized to make an anatomical gift on behalf of another person by a document signed by the person.

(3) “Anatomical gift” means a donation of all or part of a human body to take effect after the donor‘s death for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education.

(4) “Bank” or “storage facility” means a facility licensed, accredited, or approved under the laws of any state for storage of human bodies or parts of human bodies.

(5) “Decedent”:

(A) means a deceased individual whose body or body part is or may be the source of an anatomical gift; and

(B) includes:

(i) a stillborn infant; and

(ii) except as restricted by any other law, a fetus.

(6) “Disinterested witness” means an individual other than a spouse, child, sibling, grandchild, grandparent, or guardian of the individual who makes, amends, revokes, or refuses to make an anatomical gift or another adult who exhibited special care and concern for the individual. This term does not include a person to whom an anatomical gift could pass under section 10 of this chapter.

(7) “Document of gift” means a donor card or other record used to make an anatomical gift, including a statement or symbol on:

(A) a driver’s license;

(B) an identification card;

(C) a resident license to hunt, fish, or trap; or

(D) a donor registry.

(8) “Donor” means an individual whose body or body part is the subject of an anatomical gift.

(9) “Donor registry” means:

(A) a data base maintained by:

(i) the bureau of motor vehicles; or

(ii) the equivalent agency in another state;

(B) the Donate Life Indiana Registry maintained by the Indiana Donation Alliance Foundation; or

(C) a donor registry maintained in another state;

that contains records of anatomical gifts and amendments to or revocations of anatomical gifts.

(10) “Driver’s license” means a license or permit issued by the bureau of motor vehicles to operate a vehicle.

(11) “Eye bank” means a person that is licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery, screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of human eyes or portions of human eyes.

(12) “Guardian” means an individual appointed by a court to make decisions regarding the support, care, education, health, or welfare of an individual. The term does not include a guardian ad litem.

(13) “Hospital” means a facility licensed as a hospital under the laws of any state or a facility operated as a hospital by the United States, a state, or a subdivision of a state.

(14) “Identification card” means an identification card issued by the bureau of motor vehicles.

(15) “Minor” means an individual under eighteen (18) years of age.

(16) “Organ procurement organization” means a person designated by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services as an organ procurement organization.

(17) “Parent” means an individual whose parental rights have not been terminated.

(18) “Part” means an organ, an eye, or tissue of a human being. The term does not mean a whole body.

(19) “Pathologist” means a physician:

(A) certified by the American Board of Pathology; or

(B) holding an unlimited license to practice medicine in Indiana and acting under the direction of a physician certified by the American Board of Pathology.

(20) “Person” means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.

(21) “Physician” or “surgeon” means an individual authorized to practice medicine or osteopathy under the laws of any state.

(22) “Procurement organization” means an eye bank, organ procurement organization, or tissue bank.

(23) “Prospective donor” means an individual who is dead or near death and has been determined by a procurement organization to have a part that could be medically suitable for transplantation, therapy, research, or education. The term does not include an individual who has made an appropriate refusal.

(24) “Reasonably available” means:

(A) able to be contacted by a procurement organization without undue effort; and

(B) willing and able to act in a timely manner consistent with existing medical criteria necessary for the making of an anatomical gift.

(25) “Recipient” means an individual into whose body a decedent‘s part has been or is intended to be transplanted.

(26) “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

(27) “Refusal” means a record created under section 6 of this chapter that expressly states the intent to bar another person from making an anatomical gift of an individual’s body or part.

(28) “Sign” means, with the present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:

(A) to execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

(B) to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process.

(29) “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

(30) “Technician” means an individual determined to be qualified to remove or process parts by an appropriate organization that is licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law. The term includes an eye enucleator.

(31) “Tissue” means a part of the human body other than an organ or an eye. The term does not include blood or other bodily fluids unless the blood or bodily fluids are donated for the purpose of research or education.

(32) “Tissue bank” means a person that is licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery, screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of tissue.

(33) “Transplant hospital” means a hospital that furnishes organ transplants and other medical and surgical specialty services required for the care of organ transplant patients.

As added by P.L.147-2007, SEC.12. Amended by P.L.198-2016, SEC.659; P.L.11-2020, SEC.2; P.L.50-2021, SEC.68.