Harvard med school hit with lawsuit alleging it trafficked cadavers

Harvard Medical School failed to protect hundreds of cadavers that had been donated to the university for research and education—a negligence that allowed the manager of the school’s morgue to steal and sell donated body parts, according to a class-action suit filed by a Massachusetts law firm. During a June 13 indictment by the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania—where two individuals named in the lawsuit reside—the court was told that from 2018 to August 2022, morgue manager Cedric Lodge stole dissected portions of donated cadavers including heads, brains, skins and bones. Lodge and his wife, Katrina Maclean—who owns a business specializing in creepy dolls and “bone art”—allegedly sold these human remains to Joshua Taylor and Jeremy Pauley, both Pennsylvania residents, according to a Medscape News report. Pauley is not named in the suit but has charged separately. The plaintiffs, which include relatives of people whose remains were allegedly stolen and sold, claim that as many as 400 cadavers may have been trafficked in the scheme. "Medical schools like Harvard have a duty to ensure [donated remains] are handled properly and with decency and to ensure they are used for their intended purpose of scientific study," said attorney Jeff Catalano. According to the suit, Lodge gave Maclean, Taylor and other people access to the morgue so they can choose which parts they wanted. Read: Not enough bodies: UBC cadaver donation program numbers have dropped off Maclean allegedly paid Lodge US$600 for two dissected faces. She also shipped human skin to Pauley, who turned the skin into leather and sent them back to Maclean, according to the indictment. Taylor, in the meantime, paid the Lodges about US$37,000 for human remains. Each of the individuals named in the lawsuit faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Harvard has been cooperating fully with the investigation, the university said in a statement. On May 6, it fired Lodge, who has worked at the morgue since 1995. "We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others," the statement said. "The reported incidents are a betrayal of (Harvard Medical School) and, most importantly, each of the individuals who altruistically chose to will their bodies to HMS through the Anatomical Gift Program to advance medical education and research." The medical school has formed an outside expert panel to evaluate its anatomical gift program as well as its morgue policies and practices. The panel is expected to make its findings public at the end of the summer. Read: Body snatcher: Funeral home owner made over US$1.2M by stealing and selling hundreds of bodies

Harvard med school hit with lawsuit alleging it trafficked cadavers

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