Medical (Therapy, Education and Research) Bill

Bill No. 66/1965

Read the first time on 17th December 1965.

An Act to make provision for the use of parts of bodies of deceased persons for therapeutic purposes, for purposes of medical education and research and with respect to the circumstances in which post-mortem examinations may be carried out.

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Medical (Therapy, Education and Research) Act, 1965, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Removal of parts of body or specified parts in accordance with a request

2. If any person, either in writing at any time or orally in the presence of two or more witnesses during his last illness, has expressed a request that his body or any specified part of his body be used after his death for therapeutic purposes or for purposes of medical education or research, the person who has lawful possession of his body after his death may unless he has reason to believe —

(a)	that the request was subsequently withdrawn; or
(b)	that the surviving spouse or any surviving relative of the deceased objects to the body being so dealth with, authorise in writing the removal from the body of any part or, as the case may be, the specified part, for use in accordance with the request.

Authority to remove parts of body and post-mortem examination

3. Without prejudice to the provisions of section 2, the person who is in lawful possession of the body of a deceased person may authorise in writing —

(a)	the use of the body or any specified part of the body for therapeutic purposes or for purposes of medical education or research; or
(b)	the post-mortem examination of the body for the purpose of establishing or confirming the cause of death or of investigating the existence or nature of abnormal conditions,

if, having made such enquiries as may be practicable, he has no reason to believe —

(i)	that the deceased had expressed an objection to his body being so dealt with after his death, and had not withdrawn it; or
(ii)	that the surviving spouse or any surviving relative of the deceased objects to the body being so dealt with.

Director may authorise post-mortem examination of unclaimed body

4. Where the body of a deceased person has not been claimed from a hospital, nursing home or other institution, maintained on public funds, for more than twenty-four hours after death, the Director of Medical Services may authorise, in writing, the use of the body or a specified part of the body or the post-mortem examination of the body for the purposes for which an authorisation in writing may be given under the provisions of paragraph (a) or (b) of section 3.

Power of Coroner unaffected

5. The provisions of sections 2, 3 and 4 shall be without prejudice to the authority of the Coroner to direct the post-mortem examination of a body of a deceased person under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 132).

Authorisation to be lawful

6.—(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3), the removal and use of any part of a body or the post-mortem examination of a body in accordance with an authorisation, under the provisions of section 2, 3 or 4, as the case may be, shall be lawful.

(2) Such authorisation shall not be questioned or challenged in any court.

(3) No such removal or post-mortem examination shall be affected, except —

(a)	by a registered medical practitioner, who shall have satisfied himself by personal examination of the body that life is extinct;
(b)	with the written consent of the Coroner in a case where an inquest or inquiry is to be held in respect of the death of any person.

Persons who cannot give authority

7. No person, who has been entrusted with the body for the purpose of its interment or cremation, shall give an authorisation under the provisions of section 2 or 3

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