Autopsy can be conducted after sunset

Post-mortem procedures can now be carried out at night, especially to enable the faster release of bodies to harvest organs for transplant surgeries, according to a new protocol issued by the Centre on Monday.

As things stand, autopsies were performed before sunset, and only procedures that received special permission by the law enforcement agencies could be carried out at night. This, experts said, often led to organs of donors being unusable because the crucial hours in which they can be harvested and preserved were lost.

“In response to the multiple references that have been received by the Union health ministry from various sources, and in line with the government’s commitment to promote ease of living by reducing burden imposed due to compliance to government processes, changes have been made in the post-mortem protocols to allow for the procedure to be conducted after sunset effective from today,” the health ministry said in a statement.

“Apart from friends and relatives of the deceased, this new procedure also promotes organ donation and transplant as organs can be harvested in the stipulated time window after the procedure,” the statement added.

The Directorate General of Health Services, the technical wing of Union health ministry, extensively examined several representations made to the ministry in this regard, and allowed institutes with adequate infrastructure to perform the procedure at night, officials said.

“It was ascertained that some institutes are already performing night-time post-mortem. In view of the rapid advancement and improvement in technology, especially availability of required lighting and infrastructure required for post-mortem, performing night time post-mortem in hospitals is now feasible,” the statement read.

Union health Mansukh Mandaviya hailed it as a move aimed at saving lives.

“British era arrangement ends! Post-mortem will be conducted round the clock. Taking forward PM Narendra Modi’s idea of good governance, Union health ministry decided that hospitals that have the facility to conduct post mortem at night will be allowed to perform post-mortem after sunset,” he tweeted.

The protocol also said that the post-mortem procedures for organ donation must be taken up on priority, and all post-mortem procedures performed at night need to be videographed.

However, cases under categories such as homicide, suicide, rape, decomposed bodies, and suspected foul play, should not be taken up for post-mortem procedures during the night unless there is a law-and-order situation.