Key facts
- Harvard University will pay $53 million to settle lawsuits over the theft and sale of human remains.
- Former morgue manager Cedric Lodge was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts from donated cadavers.
- The scheme allegedly ran from 2018 to 2021, involving the sale of body parts on the black market.
- The settlement aims to resolve claims that Harvard ignored Lodge's misconduct for years.
- Harvard Medical School will establish an annual financial-aid scholarship for medical students as part of the agreement.
Harvard University has agreed to pay $53 million to settle civil lawsuits stemming from the illegal theft and sale of human remains that had been donated to its medical school for scientific research. The settlement resolves claims that former Harvard medical school morgue manager Cedric Lodge, 58, stole and sold body parts from cadavers donated to the university between 2018 and 2021.
Lodge was sentenced in December to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges. His wife, Denise Lodge, received a sentence of one year and a day for her involvement in the scheme. Prosecutors alleged Lodge used his position to dismember cadavers and sell the parts online. The Lodges transported stolen remains from Boston to their home in New Hampshire, from where they were shipped to buyers in other states.
Several other defendants have also pleaded guilty and been sentenced in related cases. Civil lawsuits were brought against Harvard in 2023, alleging the university ignored Lodge's misconduct for several years. While initially dismissed, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court revived the suits last fall. Harvard Medical School deans George Daley and Bernard Chang described Lodge's actions as an "abhorrent betrayal" and "morally reprehensible."
As part of the settlement, Harvard Medical School will issue a statement affirming that Lodge's conduct was inconsistent with the school's standards. The school will also establish an annual financial aid scholarship for medical students, intended to honor anatomical donors. Deans Daley and Chang noted that while the criminal case against Lodge is concluded and the settlement would conclude civil cases, the process of recovering from the incident continues.