Impact of medical examiner/coroner practices on organ recovery in the United States.

Objective: The object of this research is to determine the nature and extent of the loss of donor organs during a 3-year period that are otherwise medically suitable for organ transplantation owing to nonrelease by a local medical examiner or coroner.

Design And Data Sources: In a retrospective study of the effects of medical examiner/coroner donor release practices, a detailed survey was mailed to every organ procurement organization (OPO) in the United States. This survey collected specific data (eg, number of cases denied per year), as well as descriptive information.