{
  "id": 2599592,
  "title": "Harvard to pay $53 million after former morgue manager sold body parts on black market",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/22/harvard-to-pay-53-million-after-former-morgue-manager-sold-body-parts",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-22T14:36:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/08/22/harvard-morgue-settlement-court-forced-53-million/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Harvard Medical School has agreed to pay $53 million in a settlement to resolve class action lawsuits filed by relatives of body donors whose remains were allegedly sold on the black market by the former morgue manager, Cedric Lodge. The settlement, which will be established as two class action funds pending court approval, covers relatives or designees of individuals who donated their remains to Harvard Medical School between January 1, 2018, and March 31, 2023. Harvard's 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\" in a letter to the community. Lodge, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts, allegedly shipped organs from cadavers to buyers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. The school reviewed federal investigators' information and records to determine which donors' remains may have been affected. Following Lodge's conviction, Harvard conducted a review of its Anatomical Gift Program and implemented recommendations from a panel of outside experts appointed in 2023. In addition to the settlement, Harvard plans to establish an annual scholarship for medical students beginning in the 2027-28 academic year to honor anatomical donors.",
  "summary": "A court found Harvard acted in bad faith overseeing its morgue before it agreed to pay families of donors whose remains were sold as leather and skulls.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}