Harvard University will pay $53 million to settle class-action suits by families who say the school mishandled donated bodies after a former morgue manager, Cedric Lodge, was arrested in 2023 and later sentenced to eight years for stealing and selling cadaver parts. A Massachusetts judge gave preliminary approval to the settlement after the state’s highest court revived the suits. The agreement includes compensation, a live webinar statement to families, and an annual scholarship beginning in 2027–2028 to honor anatomical donors.
Harvard Agrees to $53 Million Settlement After Former Morgue Manager Sold Donated Body Parts
A flag hangs on campus at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., September 4, 2025. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Harvard University has agreed to pay $53 million to resolve class-action lawsuits brought by families who say the university mishandled bodies donated to its medical school and that a former morgue manager sold cadaver parts on the black market.
Background
The proposed settlement, preliminarily approved this week by a Massachusetts state court judge in Boston, stems from the 2023 arrest of Cedric Lodge, the long-time manager of Harvard Medical School’s morgue. Lodge, who worked at the morgue for nearly 30 years, was later sentenced by a federal judge in December to eight years in prison after being convicted of stealing and selling organs and other cadaver parts donated for medical education and research.
Allegations and Investigation
Prosecutors said that beginning in 2018 Lodge removed parts from donated bodies — including heads, faces, brains, skin and hands — and transported them from Harvard’s morgue in Boston to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where he and his wife sold some of the remains. Dozens of families of donors sued Harvard, accusing the university of negligence and alleging it failed to properly supervise or stop Lodge’s misconduct for years.
"Despicable, abhorrent, and a flagrant betrayal of our values as a medical community,"
is how Harvard Medical School leaders George Daley and Bernard Chang described Lodge’s actions in a message to the school community.
Court Action And Settlement Terms
The cases were initially dismissed, but the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court revived the plaintiffs’ claims in October, finding the families had plausible allegations that Harvard did not act in good faith in handling donated bodies and that the “horrific and undignified treatment continued for years.”
In addition to monetary compensation, the settlement requires Harvard Medical School to provide a formal statement to families via a live webinar acknowledging that Lodge’s criminal acts were morally reprehensible. The school also pledged to establish an annual scholarship beginning in the 2027–2028 academic year to honor anatomical donors and support medical students.
John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan, who represented many of the families, said the resolution is intended to help prevent similar harm to other families in the future. The settlement is preliminarily approved and may be finalized after the court completes its review and any required notice to class members.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
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