Yes. When a death falls under the jurisdiction of the State Medical Examiner or county medical examiner investigator, official clearance must be received before proceeding with the donation. This clearance must be obtained by the organ procurement agency from the next-of-kin and from the State Medical Examiner. In rare cases the State Medical Examiner’s Office may deny an organ recovery request when there is a concern for the loss of valuable evidentiary material or lack of appropriate forensic examination. However, in most cases, including homicides, the forensic pathologist can determine cause of death and manner of death to a reasonable degree of certainty despite the occurrence of organ recovery procedures.
