Harvard Morgue Manager Accused of Selling Stolen Body Parts

Facts

• Federal prosecutors revealed on Wednesday that a former morgue manager at Harvard Medical School is among five people indicted by a grand jury for allegedly stealing, selling, and shipping human body parts.¹
• According to court documents filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Cedric Lodge stole dissected portions of corpses — including brains and bones — that had been donated to the school for medical research and educational purposes.²
• Lodge is accused of removing the human remains from Harvard's morgue, transporting them to his home in New Hampshire, and selling them online to buyers in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts from 2018 to 2021.³
• He is also accused of allowing customers to enter the morgue to select their preferred body parts. Meanwhile, the defendants are reportedly part of a nationwide ring that buys and sells human remains stolen from the school and an Arkansas mortuary.⁴
• In a statement, US Attorney Gerard Karam said the voluntarily donated body parts are supposed "to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing."⁵
• The indictment charges Lodge, his wife Denise, and three others with conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²CNN, ³BBC News, ⁴Sky News, ⁵NDTV, and ⁶USA Today.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Express. Organ transplantation in America is at a crossroads. While this crime is a betrayal to Harvard, its donors, and their families, until the US organ transplant system is overhauled and meaningful changes made, the theft and trafficking of human remains will, unfortunately, continue.
• Narrative B, as provided by Albuquerque Journal. Post-COVID, donations of organs and bodies must continue. Donors not only contribute to medical knowledge but also serve the purpose of becoming a teaching aid and allowing students of the future to attain life-saving knowledge. This heinous crime should not be seen as a deterrent to those seeking to do good.

Predictions