Bill A6824 — Provides for eye and tissue donation
Status: Referred to Senate Rules (as of 2025-06-06)
Introduced: March 14, 2025 — Passed Assembly June 6, 2025 — Delivered to Senate June 6, 2025
Sponsors: Carrie Woerner (primary); cosponsors MaryJane Shimsky, Alicia Hyndman, Dana Levenberg, Phil Steck, John Zaccaro Jr., Marianne Buttenschon, Philip Palmesano, Mary Beth Walsh
Companion: S8296
Note on source material: the legislative attachments supplied with the request appear to be non-readable PDF streams rather than plain legislative text. The summary below draws on the bill’s title, legislative history, and common components of statutes addressing eye and tissue donation. For the exact statutory language and operative details, consult the official bill text on the Legislature’s website or the Senate bill file (S8296).
Purpose / Intent
A6824 is intended to address and reform aspects of eye and tissue donation — most likely to increase donation rates, clarify consent and authorization procedures, standardize hospital and coroner/medical examiner responsibilities, and streamline donation transfer to eye/tissue banks. The overall goal is to facilitate lawful, timely recovery and use of donated ocular tissue (e.g., corneas) and other tissues for transplantation, therapy, research, and education.
Likely key provisions (based on bill title and typical practice)
Because full text is unavailable in the provided files, the following lists common provisions such a bill would include. Confirm specifics in the official text.
- Definitions: establishes terms such as “eye tissue,” “tissue bank,” “donor,” “next of kin,” and “organ procurement organization (OPO).”
- Consent and authorization: clarifies how an individual’s signed anatomical gift (e.g., donor designation on DMV license) or family authorization governs donation; establishes priority rules among competing authorizing persons.
- Hospital/medical duties: requires hospitals, emergency departments, and coroners/medical examiners to notify registered procurement organizations when a potential donor is identified and to permit timely recovery.
- Time and preservation standards: sets timelines and medical/technical requirements for eye/tissue recovery, preservation, and transport to ensure tissue viability.
- Data and registry interaction: authorizes use or updating of organ/tissue donor registries (e.g., state anatomical gift registry) and data-sharing between agencies.
- Liability and confidentiality: provides limited civil liability protections for good-faith actions by donation professionals and maintains privacy/confidentiality protections for donor/patient information.
- Oversight and penalties: may create reporting or inspection duties for relevant agencies and penalties for interference with lawful donation.
- Education/outreach: may direct public awareness campaigns or require information be provided at DMV or during licensing.
Who would be affected
- Potential donors and their families/authorized decision-makers.
- Hospitals, emergency personnel, coroners, and medical examiners.
- Eye and tissue banks, organ procurement organizations, transplant centers.
- State agencies that manage donor registries or regulate tissue banking.
- Patients awaiting corneal transplants or other tissue therapies.
Procedural / timeline notes
- Introduced 2025-03-14 and referred to the Assembly Local Governments Committee.
- Passed the Assembly (multiple committee prints and amendments: A6824A and A6824B), reported to Rules and ordered to third reading on 2025-06-06, then passed the Assembly and was delivered to the Senate on the same day.
- Referred to Senate Rules on 2025-06-06. Next steps: committee assignment in the Senate (if not already assigned), hearings, and floor consideration. The companion S8296 should be tracked for parallel action.
Recommendations
- Review the official bill text (A6824A/B) and the companion S8296 for exact statutory changes and any fiscal note.
- Check any conforming or related statutes (Public Health, Vehicle & Traffic/DMV donor indicators, and laws governing medical examiners) to understand implementation impacts.
- If you want, I can locate or summarize the official text and fiscal analysis once provided or point you to the Legislature’s bill page.
