Principle: 

A patient may request to have their specimen or part of the specimen released to them.  Requests for wet tissue will not be honored unless for religious, cultural, or burial purposes because of the significant biological and chemicals hazards.

Procedure:

1. Allowances for specimen release:
   • Religious purposes
   • Cultural purposes
   • Legal purposes
   • Burial purposes
   • Manufacturer’s request for medical devices
   • Hospital Risk Management requests
   • Gallstones
   • All other requests will not be honored due to significant biological and chemical hazards.
2. Requests:
   • Requests for specimen release must be submitted to Dahl-Chase Diagnostic Services (DCDS). A specimen release form must be completed and received by DCDS within 13 days following the date of the surgery. If a release form is not received within 13 days, the request will be deemed informal. All informal requests (i.e., requests written on requisitions and verbal requests over the phone) will not be honored, and the specimen may be disposed of per normal protocol.
   • If an informal request is made, a release form will be sent to the physician’s office for completion. DCDS is not responsible for directly contacting the patient.
3. Retrieval:
   • DCDS does not deliver specimens. Specimens must be retrieved at the DCDS laboratory located at 417 State St Bangor Maine, Suite 540 Webber West on the Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center campus.
   • All specimens are fixed in formalin for a minimum of 72 hours prior to release to disinfect the specimen. The formalin is rinsed from the specimen prior to release.
   • Release of specimen to patient:
     • The specimen may be retrieved 16 days after surgery. The specimen may be released prior to 16 days for burial purposes with the consent of a pathologist.
     • The specimen may be released to the patient, designee, or funeral home as noted on the specimen release form.
     • Patients and/or designee must produce valid identification to retrieve the specimen (i.e., driver’s license, passport, etc.).
     • The recipient must sign the specimen release form acknowledging the change in custody.
     • Surgical pathology will scan the signed release form into the patient’s case and enter a tracking event into PowerPath documenting the specimen has been released.
4. Disposal of Specimens:
   • DCDS is not a biological specimen storage and management company and will not retain tissue indefinitely.
   • Specimens are disposed of in accordance with proper protocol.
   • Specimens requested by patients:
     • Specimens will be held for a total of 45 days following the patient’s surgery.
     • After 45 days if the specimen is not retrieved the specimen will be disposed of without any further notification.
     • Exceptions may be made if the patient directly contacts the surgical pathology department. The notification will be documented in the patient’s case and a new disposal date will be established for 30 days after the notification.