Harvard agrees to pay $53 million to families after an employee at its morgue stole and sold donated remains

The Harvard University has agreed to pay $53 million to the families of donors whose remains were stolen and sold by the former head of its morgue. A Boston court granted preliminary approval of the settlement on Tuesday.

Former morgue director sentenced to eight years

Cedric Lodge, who ran the morgue at Harvard Medical School until his dismissal in 2023, was sentenced in December to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to trafficking in stolen remains. According to investigators, Lodge and his wife removed body parts from cadavers donated to research "without the knowledge or permission of their employer, the donor, or the family" and shipped them to buyers in other states beginning in 2018.

His wife, Denise Lodge, was sentenced to one year in prison. Six other accomplices who purchased the remains also pleaded guilty and received sentences.

The settlement and what the damilies will receive

In a letter on Monday, Harvard announced that it will ask the court to establish "two class-action settlement funds totaling $53 million." The dean of the Harvard Medical School, George Daley, and the dean of medical education Bernard Chang, wrote: "We are grateful to be working alongside the plaintiffs to move forward in a way that prioritizes support for the families and the donation program and avoids protracted litigation."

They described Lodge's violations as "despicable, abhorrent, and a flagrant betrayal of our values as a medical community" and reaffirmed their "deep sorrow and empathy" for the affected families. The distribution of the funds will take several months.