Harvard University has agreed to a $53 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by families who alleged that a former morgue manager at the institution mishandled and sold the body parts of their loved ones donated for medical research. A state court judge in Boston granted preliminary approval to the settlement on Tuesday.
The lawsuit stemmed from the 2023 arrest of Cedric Lodge, the former manager of Harvard Medical School's morgue, who worked at the university for nearly three decades. Lodge was arrested and later sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling organs and body parts from cadavers donated to the school.
Prosecutors stated that Lodge began stealing body parts, including heads, faces, brains, skin, and hands, as early as 2018. He would transport these parts to his home in New Hampshire, where his wife assisted him in selling them to buyers in Pennsylvania and other locations. In one instance detailed during his trial, Lodge provided skin to a buyer who intended to tan it and bind it into a book. In another case, Lodge and his wife sold a man's face.
Families involved in the suit accused Harvard of negligence, claiming the university was aware of Lodge's illicit activities but failed to act until his indictment. Initially, a judge dismissed the cases, but the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court revived the claims in October, finding that the families had presented sufficient evidence to suggest the university acted in bad faith regarding the handling of the donated bodies.
In a message to the Harvard Medical School community, Dean of Faculty of Medicine George Daley and Dean for Medical Education Bernard Chang described Lodge's actions as "despicable, abhorrent, and a flagrant betrayal of our values as a medical community."
In addition to the financial settlement, Harvard Medical School is required to host a webinar for the affected families, acknowledging the criminal nature of Lodge's acts and confirming they were "morally reprehensible." The university will also establish an annual scholarship for medical schools beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year, in honor of those whose bodies were donated for research.
"We hope that this resolution ensures that this never happens to another family ever again," said John Morgan, whose law firm represented the families in the suit.