Harvard will pay $53 million in damages after the former head of the medical school's morgue was caught illegally trafficking body parts from donated corpses.

Harvard University has agreed to pay $53 million to settle lawsuits filed by families who accused the medical school of mishandling the remains of their loved ones donated.

The agreement, proposed to a court in Boston, comes after Cedric Lodge, a former morgue director, admitted to stealing and selling human remains on the black market between 2018 and 2021.

Lodge, along with six other accomplices, was accused by prosecutors of using his position to dismember bodies donated for medical research. The university announced that once the court approves the agreement, compensation funds will be established for the victims' families.

Harvard has been accused of ignoring Lodge's inappropriate behavior for many years, and the lawsuits were reopened by the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 2025. The $53 million settlement was requested by both parties to resolve the class action.