Image Source: Thomas Steiner, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
What Was the Accusation?
Harvard Medical School faced a major institutional crisis after federal prosecutors disclosed in June 2023 that Cedric Lodge, the former manager of the school’s morgue, had stolen human remains from cadavers donated through Harvard’s Anatomical Gift Program and participated in selling and transporting those remains across state lines. The donors had given their bodies to Harvard for medical education and research with the expectation that their remains would be treated respectfully and ultimately disposed of according to their anatomical gift agreements. Lodge instead removed remains including organs, brains, skin, hands, faces and dissected heads after the bodies had been used for teaching or research but before their final disposition. He transported remains from the Harvard morgue in Boston to his home in New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Denise Lodge, sold them to buyers. Lodge later pleaded guilty to interstate transport of stolen human remains and in December 2025 was sentenced to eight years in federal prison.
Although federal authorities said Lodge acted without Harvard’s knowledge or permission, families of anatomical donors accused the university of failing to adequately supervise its morgue and protect bodies that had been entrusted to the institution. Beginning in 2023, relatives filed lawsuits alleging negligence and other claims against Harvard. A Massachusetts Superior Court judge initially dismissed the claims against Harvard and two employees associated with the Anatomical Gift Program, but in October 2025 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reversed the dismissal. The state’s highest court concluded that the families had alleged sufficient facts to proceed with claims challenging whether Harvard had acted in good faith in its handling of the donated remains. The litigation therefore focused not only on Lodge’s criminal conduct but also on Harvard’s institutional responsibility for the security, oversight and dignified treatment of anatomical donors.
Harvard Medical School responded to the scandal by condemning Lodge’s conduct, expressing sorrow to donor families and commissioning an external review of the Anatomical Gift Program. The review examined areas including staffing, supervision, cadaver tracking, physical security, policies and procedures, data management and the reporting of adverse events. Harvard subsequently began implementing changes to the program. The controversy nevertheless continued as affected families questioned how such extensive misconduct could have occurred inside the medical school’s morgue over a period of years and argued that Harvard should be held accountable for failing to prevent it.
In August 2026, Harvard agreed to a proposed $53 million class-action settlement with families of anatomical donors. A Massachusetts Superior Court judge granted preliminary approval to the settlement on August 18, with a final approval hearing scheduled for December 9, 2026. The agreement does not constitute an admission of legal liability by Harvard. In addition to the financial settlement, Harvard Medical School agreed to address claimant families through a live webinar, formally condemn Lodge’s criminal conduct, explain improvements made to the Anatomical Gift Program and establish an annual financial-aid scholarship for medical students beginning in the 2027–2028 academic year in honor of anatomical donors. Harvard Medical School leaders George Q. Daley and Bernard S. Chang described Lodge’s conduct as a profound betrayal of the medical community’s values and reaffirmed their sorrow and empathy for families whose loved ones may have been affected.
Harvard Medical School’s June 14, 2023 letter to anatomical donors’ next of kin:
I am profoundly saddened to report that today the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the indictment and arrest of Cedric Lodge, a former HMS employee, for the unlawful interstate transport of stolen human remains. Lodge worked in the morgue as part of the Anatomical Gift Program until HMS terminated his employment on May 6.
The indictment charges Lodge with the unlawful interstate transport of stolen human remains from “in or about 2018 through on or about August 16, 2022.” We have been working with information supplied by federal authorities and examining our records, particularly the logs showing when donor remains were sent to be cremated and when Lodge was on campus, to try to determine which donors may have been impacted.
These alleged criminal acts are morally reprehensible and inconsistent with the standards that Harvard Medical School, our anatomical donors, and their loved ones expect and deserve. On behalf of the faculty and staff of Harvard Medical School, we are deeply sorry for the pain and uncertainty caused by this troubling news. We pledge to engage with you and support you during this distressing time.
HMS has created a webpage with available resources for family members and next of kin at: hms.harvard.edu/family-resources. In addition, we have set up a toll-free information and support center you can reach at 1-888-268-1129. This line is staffed by specially trained counselors who are currently available daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., excluding holidays, and will do their best to answer your questions based on the information available at the time. [Please note that this call center was active from June to December 2023.]
Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has stated that they will continue to attempt to identify victims and contact as many of the victims’ families affected by this case as possible. If anyone believes they or a family member may have been affected by the conduct charged in the indictments and information, please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office Victim and Witness Unit at [email protected] or 717-614-4249.
An important and meaningful part of how all first-year medical and dental students learn human anatomy is through the dissection and examination of donor cadavers. As an HMS student myself, I learned anatomy in the same dissection laboratory used today. The enormous respect and gratitude I felt toward the donors and the deep reverence I held for the process of dissection remain present with me today. Learning anatomy transforms students from pre-meds to physician-healers; it is an experience that changes your heart and soul, forever. Those values are passed down every fall to our new students who, each year at the conclusion of their studies, hold a poignant, private memorial service to honor the donors.
As a learning community whose mission is to alleviate suffering and improve health and well-being for all, HMS is dedicated to introspection, innovation, and growth, particularly in the face of challenge. These values drive our commitment to do all we can to prevent something like this from happening again. To that end, Harvard University has appointed an external panel of experts to evaluate our Anatomical Gift Program and morgue policies and practices, with the goal of providing constructive feedback and recommendations to improve security for the program and for the generous whole-body donations it receives.
We owe it to you, as well as to our community, our profession, and our patients and their loved ones to ensure that HMS is worthy of the donors who have entrusted their bodies to us for the advancement of medical education and research. There is nothing more sacred and worthy of our attention and respect.
Sincerely,
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University
Harvard Medical School’s August 17, 2026 statement regarding the settlement:
Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Communities:
Three years ago, we were shocked by the indictment and arrest of Cedric Lodge, a former staff member in our morgue, who was charged with the unlawful interstate transport of stolen human remains from 2018 through August 2022. His violations — which, as the federal indictment against him states, were “without the knowledge or permission of HMS” — were despicable, abhorrent, and a flagrant betrayal of our values as a medical community. In December 2025, after pleading guilty to his crimes, he was sentenced to 96 months in prison. Six other co-conspirators who bought remains from Lodge but had no connection to Harvard were also indicted, pleaded guilty, and have been sentenced.
These events do not reflect the reverence we hold for the altruistic individuals who selflessly donate their bodies to our Anatomical Gift Program (AGP) to provide essential educational opportunities to medical and dental students, practicing surgeons, and allied health professionals. We reaffirm our deep sorrow and empathy for the families of donors who may have been impacted.
Beginning in the summer of 2023, a number of civil lawsuits were brought against Harvard related to Lodge’s conduct. Today, Harvard and the plaintiffs in those cases asked the court to approve a class action settlement agreement to resolve the claims against the University. At a court conference tomorrow afternoon, counsel for both the plaintiffs and Harvard will request the court’s preliminary approval of the settlement agreement. If the court grants preliminary approval, two class action settlement funds totaling $53 million will be established to resolve the lawsuits. A third-party Settlement Administrator will be appointed to, among other things, notify potential class members — including by creating a website with information on eligibility and instructions for submitting a claim — and to distribute settlement funds. This process, from beginning to end, is expected to take several months. We will update the FAQs on our website when further information about the court’s actions and when details from and contact information for the Settlement Administrator are available.
In addition to monetary provisions, the settlement agreement includes HMS’ pledge to provide a statement to the claimant families via live webinar confirming that Lodge’s criminal acts were morally reprehensible and inconsistent with the standards that Harvard University and HMS expect for the treatment of anatomical donors and their loved ones, as well as a statement summarizing improvements made to the AGP. Furthermore, beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year, HMS will establish an annual financial aid scholarship for medical students in appreciation and in honor of all of our anatomical donors.
The AGP has also enacted the recommendations of a panel of three outside experts appointed by the Harvard University Office of the President and Provost in 2023 to evaluate the AGP and related policies and practices. The panel released its report in December 2023, which provided constructive feedback and recommendations to ensure that the program adheres to the highest standards and best practices. The recommendations were categorized into six areas — governance, policies, communications, specimens, collections, and facilities — each of which was assigned to a senior faculty member or administrator responsible for overseeing the progress in that domain, resulting in important and sustained progress over the past two years.
We are grateful to be working together with the plaintiffs to move forward in a way that prioritizes support for families and the AGP and avoids prolonged litigation. While Lodge’s sentencing concludes the criminal case against him, and the class action settlement agreement when fulfilled would conclude the civil cases, the process of recovering from this painful incident continues.
The detailed study of human anatomy through the dissection of the bodies of deceased individuals is an invaluable and indispensable part of medical and dental students’ education and in the ongoing training of surgical residents and other health care professionals. Our students are deeply respectful of and grateful to the donors and their families, and each year at the conclusion of their studies they hold a private memorial service to honor the donors.
In a letter to family members and next of kin in July 2023 following news of the Cedric Lodge’s actions, our students wrote the following: “Newly minted medical students enter classrooms each August for a year of mostly lecture-based teaching. Time spent with donors is a rare opportunity to step out of the classroom and learn from our very first patients. It is in this sacred space that many students are shaped into nascent physicians, understanding the weight of the trust others put into the profession we are embarking on.”
While we cannot rewrite the past events that brought us here, our students give us profound hope in the future. The next generation of physicians we are training will carry forward an enduring legacy of service and selflessness and will spread that generosity to every life they touch.
Sincerely,
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University
Bernard S. Chang
Dean for Medical Education
Harvard Medical School
