Harvard to Pay $53m over Morgue Body Parts Scandal

Harvard University has agreed to pay $53m to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by families whose loved ones donated their bodies to its medical school for research and education, only for parts of the remains to be stolen and sold on the black market by former morgue manager Cedric Lodge.

A state court judge in Boston has preliminarily approved the settlement.

Lodge was sentenced in December to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts from donated cadavers between 2018 and 2023. Prosecutors said the remains included heads, faces, brains, skin and hands, which Lodge took from Harvard’s morgue and sold with his wife.

Relatives accused the university of negligence and failing to properly oversee the handling of donated bodies. Although a lower court initially dismissed the lawsuits, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reinstated them in October, ruling that the families had sufficiently alleged that Harvard failed to act in good faith.

Harvard Medical School officials described Lodge’s actions as despicable and abhorrent and a flagrant betrayal of the school’s values.

In addition to financial compensation, the settlement requires Harvard Medical School to provide a statement to affected families via a live webinar confirming that Lodge’s crimes were morally reprehensible. Beginning in the 2027–2028 academic year, the school will also establish an annual scholarship for medical students in honor of all its anatomical donors.

(Reuters, max)