Chicago Sun-Times v. Cook County Health and Hospitals System

Plaintiff filed an action for enforcement of FOIA seeking records from the Cook County hospital related to the treatment of “walk-in” gunshot victims and subsequent reporting of those admissions to local law enforcement. The county argued that the records were exempt from disclosure because they contained private information and protected personal health information. The supreme court held that the records were not exempt from disclosure so long as identifying information was removed prior to production. (ANNE M. BURKE, NEVILLE, OVERSTREET, CARTER, and HOLDER WHITE, concurring and THEIS, dissenting)