Massachusetts court rules Harvard can be sued over ex-morgue manager selling body parts

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Harvard University can be sued by families who allege the school mishandled the bodies of their loved ones donated to its medical school, allowing body parts to be sold on the black market.

In a unanimous decision, Justice Scott Kafker wrote that a lower court judge erred in dismissing the lawsuits, saying the plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged that Harvard failed to act in good faith in handling the remains.

"It had a legal obligation to provide for the dignified treatment and disposal of the donated human remains, and failed miserably in this regard, as Harvard itself recognized," Kafker wrote.

The lawsuits center around Cedric Lodge, a former morgue manager who pleaded guilty in May to transporting stolen goods across state lines. Prosecutors said Lodge began stealing body parts in 2018, such as heads, brains, skin, and organs, and transported them from Harvard to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where he and his wife sold them.

According to Reuters, Harvard Medical School said in a statement that Lodge’s actions were "abhorrent and inconsistent with the standards and values that Harvard, our anatomical donors, and their loved ones expect and deserve."

12 lawsuits representing 47 relatives of individuals whose bodies were donated to the school accuse Harvard of negligence, claiming the university ignored warning signs and failed to establish safeguards that could have prevented Lodge’s crimes. Plaintiffs argue that Harvard turned a blind eye for years, as Lodge was not indicted until 2023.

A lower court judge had dismissed the suits last year, ruling that Harvard was immune from liability if it attempted to act in good faith to comply with state laws regarding the donation of human bodies for research. But Justice Kafker and the state’s highest court disagreed, finding that the plaintiffs presented a plausible case that Harvard did not act in good faith and failed to implement systems that would have prevented Lodge from dismembering and selling body parts or bringing buyers into the morgue.