A. 1. With respect to a gift of eyes as provided for in this chapter, eye bank technicians who have successfully completed a course in eye recovery in the State of Oklahoma or elsewhere and have received a certificate of competence from the Eye Bank Association of America, may recover eyes for such gift after proper certification of death by a physician and compliance with the extent of such gift as required by the Oklahoma Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.

2. No such properly certified eye bank technician acting in accordance with the terms of this chapter shall have any liability, civil or criminal, for such eye recovery.

B. No eye bank shall operate in Oklahoma unless the eye bank:

1. Within one (1) year after beginning operation, is accredited by the Eye Bank Association of America or other nationally recognized accrediting association for eye banks;

2. Employs an eye bank technician certified by the Eye Bank Association of America or other nationally recognized accrediting or certifying association for eye banks;

3. Has as its medical director a board-certified ophthalmic surgeon licensed to practice in this state; and

4. Gives priority to the needs of patients being treated in Oklahoma.

C. Before developing a new eye bank, the person proposing to operate the eye bank shall apply to the State Commissioner of Health for a permit. The permit application shall be in such form as the Commissioner shall prescribe and shall include a demonstration of the eye bank's probable impact on existing eye banks serving the area where the new eye bank is to be located. The permit application shall be accompanied by a filing fee equal to one quarter of one percent (.25%) of the capital cost of the proposed eye bank, with a minimum fee of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).

D. Upon receipt of a completed permit application, the Commissioner shall cause public notice to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the eye bank is to be located and in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the application is available for inspection. Any person may submit written comments regarding the proposed eye bank to the Commissioner.

E. The Commissioner shall issue or deny the permit within seventy-five (75) days after publication of the notice. A permit shall expire thirty-six (36) months from the date of issue. If construction is not completed on or before the permit's expiration date, the permit shall be null and void.

F. Any issuance or denial of a permit may be appealed under Article II of the Administrative Procedures Act, Section 308a of Title 75 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

G. Each eye bank operating in this state shall report annually to the Commissioner on a form prescribed by the Commissioner. The form shall include information on the following:

1. The accreditation status of the eye bank;

2. The certification status of the eye bank technician;

3. The identity and qualifications of the medical director;

4. The numbers and geographic origins of donor corneas and whole eyes; and

5. The numbers and geographic destinations of corneas and other parts of eyes.

Added by Laws 1971, c. 147, § 1, emerg. eff. May 21, 1971, Amended by Laws 1978, c. 137, § 1; Laws 1997, c. 281, § 3, eff. July 1, 1997; Laws 2009, c. 139, § 28, eff. Nov. 1, 2009.

NOTE: Laws 2008, c. 382, § 314 was held unconstitutional by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in the case of Weddington v. Henry, 202 P.3d 143, 2008 OK 102 (2009) and repealed by Laws 2009, c. 139, § 29, eff. Nov. 1, 2009.