Florida Statute 765.5185
“Corneal removal by medical examiners”
What it means
When a patient needs corneal tissue for a transplant, a district medical examiner, or an appropriately qualified designee with training in ophthalmologic techniques, may provide a decedent's cornea at the request of an eye bank authorized under s. 765.518, if all three conditions are met.
First, the decedent is under the medical examiner's jurisdiction and an autopsy is required under s. 406.11. Second, the medical examiner knows of no objection by the decedent's next of kin. Third, removing the cornea will not interfere with the later course of an investigation or autopsy.
Neither the district medical examiner, the designee, nor an authorized eye bank may be held liable in a civil or criminal action for failure to obtain the next of kin's consent.
- The authority runs to a district medical examiner or qualified designee with ophthalmologic training, on an eye bank's request (§ 765.5185(1)).
- The decedent must be under medical examiner jurisdiction with an autopsy required under s. 406.11 (§ 765.5185(1)(a)).
- No next-of-kin objection may be known to the medical examiner (§ 765.5185(1)(b)).
- Removal must not interfere with the investigation or autopsy (§ 765.5185(1)(c)).
- No civil or criminal liability attaches for failure to obtain next-of-kin consent (§ 765.5185(2)).
Text of the statute (2026)
(1) In any case in which a patient is in need of corneal tissue for a transplant, a district medical examiner or an appropriately qualified designee with training in ophthalmologic techniques may, upon request of any eye bank authorized under s. 765.518, provide the cornea of a decedent whenever all of the following conditions are met: (a) A decedent who may provide a suitable cornea for the transplant is under the jurisdiction of the medical examiner and an autopsy is required in accordance with s. 406.11. (b) No objection by the next of kin of the decedent is known by the medical examiner. (c) The removal of the cornea will not interfere with the subsequent course of an investigation or autopsy.
(2) Neither the district medical examiner nor the medical examiner’s appropriately qualified designee nor any eye bank authorized under s. 765.518 may be held liable in any civil or criminal action for failure to obtain consent of the next of kin.
Excerpts are the subsections the summary relies on. Read the full official text of § 765.5185.
History. s. 1, ch. 77-172; s. 1, ch. 78-191; s. 979, ch. 97-102; s. 69, ch. 2001-226; s. 111, ch. 2002-1.
How it applies
The section applies only in the narrow case of a death within a medical examiner's jurisdiction where an autopsy is required, and only on an eye bank's request. All three conditions in subsection (1) must be met.
The condition in paragraph (1)(b) turns on an objection the medical examiner knows of. Subsection (2) provides that failure to obtain next-of-kin consent does not by itself create civil or criminal liability for the examiner, the designee, or the eye bank.
Questions people ask
Sources
- Florida Statutes (2026), s. 765.5185, Florida Senate (Supports subsections (1) and (2): the three conditions for corneal removal and the liability protection.)
- Online Sunshine, Florida Statutes (2026), s. 765.5185 (Text, catchline, and History line checked against this page on 2026-10-17: No objection by the next of kin of the decedent is known by the medical examiner.)
- Florida Statutes (2026), s. 406.11, Florida Senate (Paragraph (1)(a) refers to when an autopsy is required under s. 406.11.)
Last checked: October 17, 2026
Published by the Probate.Help editorial team.How these pages are written and checked.