Can I keep organs or tissue for research following coroners’ autopsies, for example to check the prevalence of CJD in the population?
The HT Act requires that consent from the deceased person, a person nominated by them, or a ‘qualifying person’ (typically the next of kin) is needed before post mortem tissue can be retained to carry out research, public health monitoring, or other activities listed in the Act (“scheduled purposes”). Action as described in question 3 above must be taken once the coroner’s authority has ended.
