Harvard Medical School has agreed to a $53 million settlement to resolve lawsuits filed by families who alleged the university mishandled the donated remains of loved ones. The proposed settlement was put forward in a Boston court on Monday, aiming to conclude legal actions initiated after the former morgue manager, Cedric Lodge, pleaded guilty to stealing and selling human body parts.
Lodge, 58, admitted to taking parts from cadavers and selling them on the black market between 2018 and 2021. According to Harvard's Medical School, the multi-million dollar settlement funds will be allocated to families once the court grants its approval. Lodge and six other individuals, who had no affiliation with Harvard, were indicted and pleaded guilty in 2025.
Prosecutors stated that Lodge exploited his position as the manager of the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School to dismember donated cadavers intended for medical research and education. Students at the medical school use these donated bodies to study and practice procedures. Typically, after their use, cadavers are cremated with remains returned to families or buried in the university's medical cemetery.
Court documents allege that Lodge and his wife sold the stolen body parts to buyers located in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Lodge was sentenced in December to eight years in prison, and his wife received a one-year and one-day sentence, according to the Department of Justice.
Civil lawsuits against Harvard were filed in 2023, with plaintiffs claiming the university overlooked Lodge's misconduct for years until his indictment. While initially dismissed by a state court judge, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court revived these suits last fall. Both Harvard and the plaintiffs have requested court approval for the class-action settlement.
In a letter, Harvard's Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, George Daley, and Dean for Medical Education, Bernard Chang, stated that Lodge's actions were "morally reprehensible and inconsistent with the standards that Harvard University and HMS expect for the treatment of anatomical donors and their loved ones." Starting with the 2027-2028 academic year, the medical school will also establish an annual financial-aid scholarship for medical students in honor of anatomical donors. The university acknowledged that while the sentencing and settlement conclude the legal proceedings, "the process of recovering from this painful incident continues."