Investigations – Page 9

Dr. Ayoub Sayeg arrives at a court hearing at the Daley Center in the Loop on Aug. 19, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

Illinois plastic surgeon with 8 patient deaths faces another license suspension

By Christy Gutowski

October 6, 2026 at 11:14 a.m.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs temporarily suspended Dr. Ayoub Sayeg’s medical license,...

Gov. JB Pritzker joined Mayor Lori Lightfoot, right, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, second from left, and public health experts in updating residents on March 12, 2020, in the early days of the pandemic. Illinois, Chicago and Cook County received $11 billion through the American Rescue Plan Act amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A Tribune-University of Chicago Mansueto Institute analysis revealed few efforts to identify potential waste and abuse of that money. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Illinois, Chicago, Cook County got $11B in pandemic aid but there were gaps in oversight and transparency

By Dan Petrella

September 13, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The Tribune and the University of Chicago's Mansueto Institute examined how Illinois, Chicago and Cook...

Weiss Memorial Hospital, in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, was closed in August 2025 after federal regulators cut off Medicare funding over safety issues. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Illinois ignores rules and red flags as ‘servant leader’ runs up $100M state tab, then closes 2 hospitals

By Joe Mahr

August 30, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

West Suburban and Weiss Memorial's collapse illustrates what can go wrong in a state that...

Denise Gilmore sits on the front porch of her Humboldt Park home with granddaughters, Mylah Collins, 4, left, and Capri Douglas, 2, on June 7, 2024. (Vincent Alban/baiduhai)

Luxury home or vacant lot? Cook County assessor misclassifies hundreds of properties, missing $444M in one year alone

By Alex Nitkin

August 16, 2024 at 4:42 p.m.

An investigation by the Illinois Answers Project and the baiduhai found Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s...

The Cook County Assessor's Office released its reassessment notices for residential properties in Evanston Township in April. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

How we reported on Cook County assessment errors

By Alex Nitkin

August 4, 2024 at 3:11 p.m.

Reporters from Illinois Answers Project and the baiduhai collected and analyzed thousands of points...

Dominique Ward and her children have been tracked and had their pictures taken by her ex-boyfriend's social media followers, July 3, 2024. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

‘I want her to worry about who’s waiting on the corner’: How one man uses Facebook to frighten his children’s mother and why police do nothing

By Stacy St. Clair

July 7, 2024 at 8:37 a.m.

An analysis of data from nearly two dozen Illinois police departments found police rarely arrest...

David Sperlein, shown with his wife, Jeannine, at their home in Manchester, Maryland, was in need of a lung transplant during a period when a flaw in the distribution process put patients with type O blood at a disadvantage. He received a donor lung in January. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun)

Error in new lung transplant algorithm harmed sick and dying patients

By Gregory Royal Pratt

July 2, 2024 at 5:02 p.m.

A flawed new algorithm for distributing lungs to transplant patients wound up putting people with...

Mortgage company Guaranteed Rate changing its name to Rate

By Lizzie Kane

June 22, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Chicago-based mortgage company Guaranteed Rate is changing its name to Rate, according to company communications...

Many former employees of Chicago-based Guaranteed Rate told the Tribune they experienced or witnessed persistent verbal abuse and a misogynistic environment while working at the mortgage company. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Verbal abuse, a ‘sex-driven’ culture: Ex-employees describe toxic environment at Guaranteed Rate

By Lizzie Kane

June 18, 2024 at 5:50 p.m.

Ex-employees allege they experienced persistent verbal abuse and a misogynistic environment at Chicago-based mortgage company...

Karyn Hearn Slover's grave is in Mt. Zion Township Cemetery, April 23, 2024. The Illinois Innocence Project filed a petition to overturn the 2002 murder conviction of the Slover family — mom, dad and son — each found guilty in the slaying of Karyn, the son's ex-wife, in Decatur in 1996. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

A young mother’s murder horrified central Illinois. Decades later, the family convicted in her death says DNA proves they’re innocent.

By Jonathan Bullington

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

The ex-husband and in-laws of Karyn Hearn Slover were convicted in her death, but the...

Michael Laster waits with other detainees in a holding cell in the basement of the Leighton Criminal Court Building before scheduled court appearances in 2022. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Tribune’s ‘Stalled Justice’ series on Cook County court delays wins national award for journalistic fairness

By baiduhai

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

"Stalled Justice," a Tribune series exposing dysfunction in the Cook County courts, has won the...

Cheryl Stevenson, center, a licensed practical nurse and chaperone, watches as Dr. Hepsi Kalapala, right, examines Quying Holmes at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in October. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Keeping watch: Chaperones may offer one way to prevent sexual abuse during medical exams

By Lisa Schencker

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

The Tribune recently exposed how several large Illinois health systems allowed health care workers accused...

"Victoria" is one of at least 30 women who have filed lawsuits alleging that Dr. Fabio Ortega sexually assaulted them during exams. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Former patients of Fabio Ortega say Endeavor Health failed to protect them from an abusive doctor

By Lisa Schencker

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

Endeavor Health, formerly NorthShore, allowed Dr. Fabio Ortega to keep working with female patients despite...