(a) Except for the portion of a delivered placenta that is necessary for an examination described in subsection (d) of this section, a hospital may allow a woman who has given birth in the hospital, or a spouse of the woman if the woman is incapacitated or deceased, to take possession of and remove from the hospital the placenta if:
(1) The woman tests negative for infectious diseases; and
(2) The person taking possession of the placenta provides a written acknowledgment that (A) the person received from the hospital educational information concerning the spread of blood-borne diseases from a placenta, the danger of ingesting formalin and the proper handling of the placenta, and (B) the placenta is for personal use.
(b) A person removing a placenta from a hospital under this section may only retain the placenta for personal use and may not sell the placenta.
(c) The hospital shall retain the signed acknowledgment described in subsection (a) with the woman's medical records.
(d) This section does not (1) prohibit a pathological examination of the delivered placenta that is ordered by a physician or required by a policy of the hospital, or (2) authorize a woman or the woman's spouse to interfere with a pathological examination of the delivered placenta that is ordered by a physician or required by a policy of the hospital.
(e) A hospital that allows a person to take possession of and remove from the hospital a delivered placenta in accordance with the provisions of this section is not required to dispose of the placenta as biomedical waste.
(f) A hospital that acts in accordance with the provisions of this section shall not be liable for allowing the removal of a placenta from the hospital in a civil action, a criminal prosecution or an administrative proceeding.
(P.A. 16-66, S. 26.)