Vision Share member eye banks routinely perform an interview with the next-of-kin of all eye tissue donors to inquire about medical or social history that may provide information about the safety and suitability of donor tissue for transplant purposes. This interview is frequently performed as part of the process of obtaining informed consent from the donor’s family.

Vision Share eye banks do not use the legislative consent approach for obtaining donor eye tissue.

The next-of-kin interview includes questions specifically designed to screen for possible viral infections such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, and for neurological symptoms that may be related to possible prion-related diseases, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

This information may also be useful for some donor tissues used for specific medical or ophthalmic research projects.