SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — A plan to protect certified pathologists from legal action is heading to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk.
The bill requires counties to indemnify and hold harmless the medical professionals responsible for conducting autopsies. Sponsors and advocates said this would be a major changes, as Cook County is the only county in Illinois that currently provides this protection.
Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon said the legislation could help address the drastic shortage of forensic pathologists in Illinois, since there are only three working south of I-80. The three professionals travel across large sections of the state to conduct autopsies for local coroners.
"They are supposed to operate independently," Allmon said. "They're a non-biased stand alone entity. We want an honest opinion by the highly-trained forensic pathologist of why that person died and we don't want those waters to be muddied at all."
Senate Bill 2779 passed unanimously out of the Senate and House in May. Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield) and Rep. Mike Coffey (R-Springfield) were lead sponsors of the measure.
"We want to make sure that there is transparency," Turner said. "We want to make sure that there is a real opportunity for families to have some closure."
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