“The number of opioid-related deaths being investigated by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office has doubled in the first six months of this year compared to the same time period last year. The medical examiner’s office said Tuesday it likely has confirmed around 770 opioid deaths so far and has another 580 pending cases, most of which will likely be overdose-related. In 2019, the first half of the year marked 605 opioid-related deaths. And for all of 2019, there were 1,267 opioid-related deaths, Chief Medical Examiner Ponni Arunkumar said during a morning news conference.”