(410 ILCS 505/2) (from Ch. 31, par. 42)
Sec. 2.
Any physician may perform an autopsy upon the body of a
decedent; provided,
a. he has a written authorization from the decedent (or from an agent
of the decedent as authorized by the decedent under the Powers of Attorney
for Health Care Law, as now or hereafter amended) to do so; or
b. a written authorization from a surviving relative who has the
right to determine the method for disposing of the body or a next of kin
or other person who has such right; or
c. a telegraphic or telephonic authorization from (i) a surviving
relative who has the right to determine the method for disposing of the
body or a next of kin or other person who has such right or (ii) an agent
of the decedent as authorized by the decedent under the Powers of Attorney
for Health Care Law, as now or hereafter amended; provided, the
telegraphic or telephonic authorization is verified, in writing, by at
least 2 persons who were present at the time and place the authorization
was received;
d. where 2 or more persons have equal right to determine the method
for disposing of the body, the authorization of only one such person
shall be necessary, unless, before the autopsy is performed, any others
having such equal right shall object in writing or, if not physically
present in the community where the autopsy is to be performed, by
telephonic or telegraphic communication to the physician by whom the
autopsy is to be performed, in which event, the authorization shall be
deemed insufficient.
In the case of a suspicious child death, the physician shall be a
pathologist certified by the Department of Public Health's Advisory Board
on Necropsy Services.
Authorization may be given to a physician or hospital administrator
or his duly authorized representative, but only a physician shall
perform the autopsy.
(Source: P.A. 86-736.)
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