Harvard University has agreed to pay $53 million to settle claims stemming from a former medical-school morgue manager's trafficking of human remains, potentially compensating about 438 families whose relatives donated their bodies for medical education and research.
A Suffolk Superior Court judge granted preliminary approval to the agreement on Aug. 18, clearing the way for two class-action funds covering families whose relatives passed through the Harvard Medical School morgue during the period affected by the scheme. Final approval is scheduled for December.
The settlement follows the federal prosecution of Cedric Lodge, who managed Harvard Medical School's morgue for nearly three decades. Lodge pleaded guilty in May 2025 to interstate transport of stolen human remains and was sentenced in December to eight years in federal prison.
Federal prosecutors said Lodge removed organs, brains, skin, hands, faces, dissected heads and other remains from donated cadavers between 2018 and at least March 2020. The remains had already been used for teaching and research but hadn't yet been cremated and returned to families as expected under Harvard's Anatomical Gift Program.
Lodge transported some of the remains to his home in Goffstown, N.H., before arranging transactions with buyers in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and other states, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Sales were arranged through telephone calls and social media.
Prosecutors said Lodge and his wife, Denise Lodge, also allowed buyers including Katrina Maclean and Joshua Taylor to enter the Harvard morgue and select remains they wanted to purchase. Some body parts were subsequently resold, expanding the trafficking chain beyond Harvard.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin described the conduct starkly during Lodge's sentencing, saying he had treated "beloved human beings as if they were baubles to be sold for profit."
Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann sentenced Lodge to 96 months in prison on Dec. 16, 2025. Denise Lodge received a sentence of 12 months and one day, while at least six other people connected to the trafficking operation have pleaded guilty or been sentenced in related cases.
The investigation also reached beyond Harvard. Candace Chapman-Scott, a former Arkansas crematorium worker, received a 15-year federal prison sentence after prosecutors said she stole human remains from her employer and sold them into the same broader network. Investigators said some of those remains included fetal remains.
For Harvard, the civil litigation turned significantly in October 2025. Families had sued the university beginning in 2023, arguing that it failed to safeguard bodies entrusted to its medical school under the Massachusetts Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.
A Suffolk Superior Court judge initially dismissed the claims in February 2024 after finding that Harvard had acted in good faith and was protected from liability for Lodge's actions. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously reversed that ruling on Oct. 6, 2025.
The state's highest court said Harvard's "extraordinary failure to adequately supervise the morgue's operations" could support a finding that the university hadn't acted in good faith. That decision eliminated a major immunity defense and allowed 12 lawsuits brought by 47 relatives of donors to move toward trial.
Harvard and the plaintiffs subsequently negotiated the $53 million agreement. According to Harvard Medical School's account, two class-action funds will cover potentially eligible donor families, with a third-party administrator responsible for notifications and individual payments.
The covered period extends through March 2023, substantially beyond the period specified in Lodge's federal criminal conduct. Determining eligibility and distributing compensation could take several months.
The agreement also requires Harvard Medical School to hold a live webinar for affected families. Officials are expected to acknowledge that Lodge's conduct was morally reprehensible and explain changes made to the Anatomical Gift Program following the scandal.
Harvard commissioned three outside experts after Lodge's 2023 indictment to review security, governance and communication procedures within the program. The university says it has implemented all recommendations contained in the panel's report.
Beginning with the 2027-28 academic year, Harvard Medical School will also finance an annual scholarship for medical students "in appreciation and in honour of all of our anatomical donors."
