Harvard agrees to $53 million settlement in body parts theft lawsuits

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.

BOSTON (AP) — Harvard Medical School says it agreed to pay $53 million to settle class action lawsuits by relatives of body donors whose remains were sold on the black market by its former morgue manager.

BOSTON (AP) — Harvard Medical School says it agreed to pay $53 million to settle class action lawsuits by relatives of body donors whose remains were sold on the black market by its former morgue manager.

Harvard Medical School says it agreed to pay $53 million to settle class action lawsuits by relatives of body donors whose remains were sold on the black market by its former morgue manager.

Harvard University Medical School has agreed to pay $53 million to settle a class action lawsuit over its former morgue manager’s illegal sale of human remains

Harvard to pay $53 million after human remains donated to its medical school were stolen and sold on the black market

Harvard University agreed to pay $53 million to settle lawsuits after former morgue manager Cedric Lodge stole and sold donated human remains.

Harvard University said it has agreed to pay $53 million over lawsuits brought by families of donors whose body parts were stolen from its medical school's morgue.

Harvard To Pay $53 Million To Families Of Donors Whose Body Parts Were Sold Off Authored by Chris Summers via The Epoch Times, Harvard University has agreed to pay $53 million to resolve lawsuits brought by the families of those whose loved ones' body parts were donated to its medical school only to be sold on the black market by its morgue manager. A flag hangs on campus at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Sept. 4, 2025. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters A state court judge in Boston preliminarily approved a class action settlement on Aug. 18 that would resolve the lawsuits filed against the Ivy League institution eight months after Cedric Lodge, the former manager of Harvard Medical School's morgue, was jailed. Dozens of relatives of individuals whose bodies were donated to Harvard filed lawsuits accusing the school of negligence, contending it turned a blind eye to Lodge's years-long misconduct until he was indicted in 2023. On Dec. 16, 2025, Lodge, 58, pleaded guilty to charges related to the interstate transportation of stolen goods and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He admitted to stealing body parts from cadavers donated to Harvard Medical School's Anatomical Gift Program and selling them to buyers across the country. Morgue Manager Stole Brains, Skin, Bones Prosecutors said that between 2018 and March 2020, Cedric Lodge stole and trafficked "heads, brains, skin, bones, and other human remains" after the donated bodies had been used for teaching and research. His wife, Denise Lodge, 65, was also sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison. Denise Lodge (L) covers her face with a printout of the indictment against her as she walks from the federal courthouse in Concord, N.H., on June 14, 2023. Steven Porter/The Boston Globe via AP Cedric Lodge, who had worked in Harvard's morgue for almost three decades, smuggled the body parts from the morgue in Boston to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where he and his wife sold them, prosecutors said. A judge had initially dismissed the class action lawsuit against Harvard, but in October 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned that decision, finding that the plaintiffs had sufficient claims that the institution had failed to act in good faith in handling the bodies. "Instead of the dignified treatment and disposal of human remains required ... the donors' remains were ghoulishly dismembered and sold for profit under the most horrifying of circumstances," Justice Scott Kafker wrote in the court's opinion at the time. "This horrific and undignified treatment continued for years and involved numerous donors." 'Flagrant Betrayal of Our Values' Harvard's dean of the faculty of medicine, George Daley, and the dean for medical education at Harvard Medical School, Bernard Chang, said in an Aug. 17 message to the school's community that Lodge's actions took place without the school's knowledge. Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Mass., on April 22, 2020. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images "His violations ... were despicable, abhorrent, and a flagrant betrayal of our values as a medical community," they wrote. "These events do not reflect the reverence we hold for the altruistic individuals who selflessly donate their bodies to our Anatomical Gift Program (AGP) to provide essential educational opportunities to medical and dental students, practicing surgeons, and allied health professionals." Daley and Chang offered their "deep sorrow and empathy" to the families of the donors and said that, in addition to the financial payment, they will provide a statement to the families via a live webinar "confirming that Lodge's criminal acts were morally reprehensible" and inconsistent with the standards Harvard Medical School expects for the treatment of anatomical donors. John Morgan, whose law firm Morgan & Morgan represented families in the litigation, said, "We hope that this resolution ensures that this never happens to another family ever again." The remains were sold to, among others, Katrina MacLean, who ran Kat's Creepy Creations, a studio and store in Peabody, Massachusetts, the indictment stated. Payments were often made to Denise Lodge through her PayPal account. On Aug. 18, MacLean, 47, was jailed for 24 months by Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann for interstate transportation of stolen property. Bill Pan and Reuters contributed to this report. Tyler Durden Wed, 08/19/2026 - 17:00

Lodge's violations "were despicable, abhorrent, and a flagrant betrayal of our values as a medical community," they said.

Harvard University on Monday announced that it will pay $53 million to settle several lawsuits filed by relatives of people whose body parts were stolen from the medical school's morgue and sold by its former manager. Former Harvard Medical School morgue manager Cedric Lodge, along with his wife and several others, was indicted in June...

A Boston state court judge gave preliminary approval to the settlement on Tuesday, according to US media, with Harvard saying the distribution of funds is expected to take several months.

The former morgue manager of the university’s medical school illegally took and sold body parts that had been donated for scientific research.

The stolen body parts included "heads, faces, brains, skin and hands."

Harvard University has agreed to pay $53 million to resolve lawsuits by families alleging it mishandled the bodies of loved ones donated to its medical school.

Cedric Lodge, who managed the morgue at Harvard Medical School, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to trafficking stolen remains.

Harvard University has agreed to pay a $53 million (€45m) settlement after its former morgue manager stole and sold body parts donated for scientific research, with a Boston court reportedly approving the plan.

Harvard University has agreed to pay $53 million to resolve lawsuits by families alleging it mishandled the bodies of loved ones donated to its medical school and whose parts were then sold on the black market by the former manager of its morgue. A state court judge in Boston on Tuesday preliminarily approved a class […]

BOSTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Harvard University has agreed to pay $53 million to resolve lawsuits by families alleging it mishandled the bodies of loved ones donated to its medical school and whose parts were then sold on the black market by the former manager of its morgue.

Harvard agrees to a Rs 507 crore ($53 million) settlement after a morgue manager stole and sold body parts on the black market.

The agreement settles lawsuits filed by relatives of people whose remains, donated for medical research and teaching, were stolen and sold by the former manager of the school’s medical morgue.

Harvard Medical School has agreed to pay $53 million to families who alleged the school mishandled the donated remains of loved ones.

Harvard to pay USD 53 million over black market sale of donated body parts

Cedric Lodge, 58, sentenced in December to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts in national schemeHarvard University has agreed to pay a $53m settlement to resolve civil lawsuits stemming from the illegal theft and sale of human remains that had been donated to its medical school for scientific research.A former Harvard medical school morgue manager, Cedric Lodge, 58, was sentenced in December last year to eight years in prison after he had pleaded guilty in May to stealing and selling human body parts in a nationwide scheme. Prosecutors said this had involved the theft and sale of organs, skin, brains and dissected heads from cadavers donated to Harvard from 2018 through at least March 2020. Continue reading...