Harvard Medical School has agreed to pay a massive sum in compensation to bereaved families to settle a class-action lawsuit involving a former morgue manager who stole and sold body parts from cadavers donated for research and education.

According to the Associated Press on August 20 (local time), George Q. Daley, dean of Harvard Medical School, and Bernard S. Chang announced in a letter to the school community on August 18 that they agreed to pay $53 million (approx. 73.7 billion won) to the families of body donors regarding the class-action lawsuit.

Dean Daley and other officials criticized the act, stating, "The theft of parts of donated bodies was a despicable and abhorrent act, and a blatant betrayal of the medical community's values."

Harvard plans to establish two class-action settlement funds to compensate the families.

This settlement applies to families and others who donated bodies between January 2018 and March 2023.

The class-action lawsuit was filed by 47 relatives of body donors over Cedric Lodge, a former morgue manager at Harvard, selling body parts from donated cadavers on the black market.

Cedric Lodge was indicted in 2023 on charges of transferring parts of donated cadavers to buyers in various regions, including Pennsylvania.

Last year, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for selling body parts like accessories, and his wife also faced a sentence of over one year for assisting her husband.

Six buyers who purchased the remains have also pleaded guilty and been sentenced.

Harvard Medical School either returns donated bodies to families or cremates them after use for research or educational purposes.

It was revealed that Lodge stole and sold body parts from the cadavers before they were cremated.

Along with paying the settlement, Harvard decided to deliver a statement condemning Lodge's actions and outlining improvements to its anatomical gift program to the bereaved families.

In addition, the school decided to establish an annual scholarship for medical students starting in the 2027–2028 academic year to honor the body donors.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)