Hyderabad: Post-mortem procedures can now be carried out after sunset, especially to enable the faster release of bodies to harvest organs for transplant surgeries, according to a new protocol issued by the Union Ministry of Health Medical and Family Welfare on November 15.
The new procedure will also promote organ donation and transplant, as organs can be harvested in the stipulated time window after the procedure, said the Health Ministry in a press release.
The protocol stipulates that post-mortems for organ donation are taken up on priority and be conducted even after sunset at the hospitals which have the infrastructure for conducting them on a regular basis.
In view of the new protocols announced by the Ministry of Health Medical and Family Welfare, the Government of India instructed the hospitals to follow the instructions while performing post-mortem.
The fitness and adequacy of the infrastructure at the hospitals for post-mortem shall be assessed by the hospital in charge to ensure that there is no dilution of evidentiary value.
The principal or superintendent of the hospital should make necessary arrangements for postmortem after sunset. It is also to be ensured by the facility that video recording shall be done for all such postmortems at night to rule out any suspicion and must be preserved for future reference for legal purposes, it stated.
However, cases under categories such as homicide, suicide, rape, decomposed bodies and suspected foul play should not be subjected for post-mortem during nighttime, unless there is a law and order situation.
All ministries and departments concerned and all State governments and Union Territories have been notified of the change in protocol, the release added.