In 1968, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws introduced the first uniform act dealing with anatomical donations—the Uniform Anatomical Gifts Act (UAGA). With minor variation, New York adopted its version of the UAGA in 1970 which, in its current form, is codified in the Public Health Law §§4300-4310 (the NYAGA).
As with any area of the law, litigation has flowed from the statute in an array of situations—many of which demonstrate the tension between the conflicting interests that the UAGA sought to balance. That is “[t]he UAGA was designed to provide a nationwide law to ‘encourage the making of anatomical gifts’ and ‘serve the needs of the several conflicting interests in a manner consistent with prevailing customs and desires in this country respecting dignified disposition of dead bodies.’” Colavito v. New York Organ Donor Network, 8 N.Y.3d 43, 53 (2006) (citing, Prefatory Note to Uniform Anatomical Gift Act of 1968). Principal among these conflicting interests are “the wishes of the deceased during his lifetime concerning the disposition of his body;…the desires of the surviving spouse or next of kin…[and] the need of society for bodies, tissues and organs for medical education, research, therapy and transplantation.” Id, at 54 (internal citations omitted).
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