Harvard agrees to $53 million settlement over body parts stolen and sold by former morgue manager

Harvard Medical School has reached a $53 million settlement to resolve class action lawsuits brought by relatives of body donors whose remains were allegedly stolen and sold by former morgue manager Cedric Lodge. In a letter to their community, Harvard Medical School Deans George Q. Daley and Bernard S. Chang denounced Lodge's actions as "despicable, abhorrent, and a flagrant betrayal of our values as a medical community."

The settlement, pending court approval, will establish two class action settlement funds totaling $53 million to compensate affected relatives. Harvard's review of federal investigators' information and records resulted in identifying potential donors whose remains may have been stolen by Lodge. The settlement covers relatives or designees of donors who provided their remains to Harvard Medical School between January 1, 2018, and March 31, 2023.

Lodge, who was sentenced to eight years in prison, was convicted of stealing and selling body parts, including brains, skin, hands, and faces, to buyers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Harvard has implemented measures to prevent such misconduct in the future, including establishing an annual financial aid scholarship for medical students to honor anatomical donors and improving the Anatomical Gift Program.