Medical Examiner Case Archive

Effective April 1, 2022, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office no longer takes jurisdiction over hospital, nursing home or hospice COVID-19 deaths unless there is another factor that falls within the Office’s jurisdiction. Data continues to be collected for COVID-19 deaths in Cook County on the Illinois Dept. of Public Health COVID-19 dashboard (dph.illinois.gov/covid19/data.html). This contains information about deaths that occurred in Cook County that were under the Medical Examiner’s jurisdiction.

Not all deaths that occur in Cook County are reported to the Medical Examiner or fall under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner’s Office determines cause and manner of death for those cases that fall under its jurisdiction. Cause of death describes the reason the person died.