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PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENT
COOK COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER'S ORDINANCE AMENDMENT
BE IT ORDAINED, by the Cook County Board of Commissioners, that Chapter 38, Health and Human Services, Article VI, Medical Examiner, Division 1, Generally, Sections. 38-109 through 38-148 of the Cook County Code, is hereby amended as follows:
DIVISION 1. - GENERALLY
Sec. 38-109. - Office of coroner eliminated.
The office of Coroner of Cook County is hereby eliminated. This article shall be known and may be cited as the Cook County Medical Examiner's Ordinance.
Sec. 38-110. - Definitions.
[The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article ordinance, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:]
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Sec. 38-119. - Deaths subject to investigation; establishing manner and cause of death.
Where a death has occurred under any of the circumstances enumerated in Section 38-118, then an investigation, including autopsy if necessary, shall be conducted sufficient to establish manner and cause of death, and the Medical Examiner shall recover and retain any and all evidence for use in the investigation. The Medical Examiner shall obtain specimens necessary to determine the cause and manner of death and retain them in accordance with nationally established practice guidelines for forensic pathology. The Medical Examiner shall have the authority to retain tissue specimen necessary to determine the cause and manner of death without notification or family permission and will have the authority to retain such body parts as the Medical Examiner deems necessary in the public interest with notification to any identified next-of-kin. The Medical Examiner shall have the authority to dispose of retained body parts or tissue specimen in an appropriate manner consistent with law, including using anonymized tissue samples for research in lieu of destruction.
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