Frequently Asked Questions

As stated in the Aug. 17, 2026, Anatomical Gift Program Update from Harvard Medical School: On Aug, 17, 2026, Harvard and the plaintiffs in the civil lawsuits asked the court to approve a class action settlement* agreement to resolve the claims against the University. At a court conference on Aug. 18, 2026, 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 these FAQs 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 Cedric 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.

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.

*A settlement is a resolution of a lawsuit prior to the court issuing a ruling in favor of any party, and without any party admitting to fault.

As stated in the Aug. 17, 2026, Anatomical Gift Program Update from Harvard Medical School: If the court grants preliminary approval of the settlement agreement, 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.

HMS will update these FAQs when further information about the court’s actions and when details from and contact information for the Settlement Administrator are available. Please do not contact the Harvard Medical School Anatomical Gift Program directly about this settlement because, as referenced above, this process is being managed by an appointed third-party Settlement Administrator and not by HMS.

In December 2025, after pleading guilty to his crimes, Cedric Lodge 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 HMS holds 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.

HMS had no prior knowledge of Cedric Lodge’s alleged criminal activities until we were initially contacted by the FBI in March 2023. HMS fully cooperated with the FBI as part of its investigation. The FBI requested that HMS maintain the investigation’s confidentiality until an indictment was issued and arrests were made. On June 14, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the indictment and arrest of Cedric Lodge for the unlawful interstate transport of stolen human remains from “in or about 2018 through on or about August 16, 2022.”

After the indictment was unsealed on June 14, 2023, and HMS became fully aware of the circumstances of the case, we immediately communicated with donor families. We launched a webpage with available resources for family members at: https://hms.harvard.edu/family-resources. We set up an information and support line for donor families that was active from June to December 2023. And on June 14, 2023, HMS expedited a letter to the documented donor designee to inform them of this alleged crime and share the available resources (we did not have email contacts for their designees, and consequently relied on mailed letters).

Cedric Lodge was on leave at the time HMS learned about the investigation. His email and campus access were suspended immediately, and he was terminated when adequate information from the federal investigation was provided to us to justify his termination for cause.

Other than former employee Cedric Lodge, no one at HMS faced any charges or was suspected of any wrongdoing. As stated in the indictment, these activities were carried out without the knowledge or permission of anyone else at HMS. Additionally, per the indictment, Lodge allegedly conspired with individuals who have no connection to Harvard in carrying out the activity.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, in coordination with other federal law enforcement authorities, conducted an extensive investigation that led to the charges in this case.

Cedric Lodge was hired on February 6, 1995, and was terminated on May 6, 2023. During that time, he took two leaves of employment: from Sept. 1, 2021, to Feb. 27, 2022, and from Feb. 14, 2023, until his termination on May 6, 2023. Importantly, the unsealed federal indictment from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania charges Lodge with the unlawful interstate transport of stolen human remains during a specific timeframe — from “in or about 2018 through on or about August 16, 2022” — and not during the entirety of his employment at HMS.

No, Cedric Lodge did not interact with donor families.

Cedric Lodge worked in the morgue as part of the Anatomical Gift Program at HMS. His responsibilities included preparing for and intaking anatomical donors’ bodies, coordinating embalming, overseeing the storage and movement of cadavers to and from teaching labs, and, when studies were complete, preparing remains to be transported to and from the external crematorium and, when appropriate, for burial. While he has been referred to as Morgue Manager, he worked under the director of the AGP program and did not manage any other employees.

As noted above, Cedric Lodge was an employee of Harvard Medical School beginning February 6, 1995, until he was terminated on May 6, 2023. During this time, he took two leaves of employment: from Sept. 1, 2021, to Feb. 27, 2022, and Feb. 14, 2023, until his termination on May 6, 2023. Federal authorities have not indicated that he was employed anywhere else in the past that could be connected to his alleged criminal activity at HMS.

The Anatomical Gift Program has 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 on Dec. 7, 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 (from 2024-2026).

The outside experts who served on the panel included (titles current as of December 2023):

• Sally S. Aiken, MD, forensic pathologist and former (retired) chief of the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office in Spokane, Washington, and former president of the National Association of Medical Examiners
• Robert J. McKeon, MS, PhD, associate professor of cell biology and director of the Body Donor Program at Emory University School of Medicine
• Brandi Schmitt, MS, executive director of anatomical services at University of California Health and former interim director of the donated body program at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and curator of the donated body program at UC Davis School of Medicine

No. Since Lodge’s activities were the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation and prosecution, the panel evaluated the Anatomical Gift Program and related policies and practices with the goal of providing constructive feedback and recommendations to ensure that the program adheres to the highest standards and best practices.

Yes, an email from Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine George Q. Daley was sent Dec. 7, 2023, to the donor designees for whom the Anatomical Gift Program had an email on file. Donor designees without an email on file were sent a paper version of the letter (also available online) on Dec. 7, 2023, via first-class. Both the email and paper version of the letter included a link to the external report. We relied on mailed letters because until recently, the Anatomical Gift Program had not collected email contacts for anatomical donors or their designees.

Yes, a letter from Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine George Q. Daley was sent to registered, living anatomical donors via first-class mail on Dec. 7, 2023, and included a link to the external report. This letter is also available online. We relied on mailed letters because until recently, the Anatomical Gift Program had not collected email contacts for anatomical donors.

The panel appeared in person before Harvard University and Harvard Medical School leadership to discuss its findings and recommendations in detail. The report was a full summary of the findings and recommendations resulting from the external panel’s review of the Anatomical Gift Program. The external panel also separately provided non-public operational detail to aid in implementing the recommendations.

The Anatomical Gift Program is an altruistic, whole-body donation program in which individuals can donate their bodies to Harvard Medical School to advance medical education and research following their death. Each year, these generous donations support the teaching of medical and dental students, postgraduate physicians, and students in related disciplines. Private donation is the sole source of these precious educational and research resources.

HMS has had an anatomical gift program under various names since at least the 1960s.

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. Harvard medical and dental 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.

No, private donation is the only source.

Yes, nearly every medical school in the U.S. has an anatomical gift (or willed/donated body) program.

Harvard Medical School pays a stipend directly to the funeral home to defray transportation costs within Massachusetts, as well as to reimburse for any necessary permits and authorizations, including the certified copy of the death certificate. The donor’s estate is responsible for any costs charged by the funeral director that exceed the stipend paid by HMS. After donated remains have been used for medical education and teaching, HMS carries out the disposition of the remains in accordance with the donor’s directives on the Instrument of Anatomical Gift. The options available are to: 1) Reclaim the remains at the expense of the estate or family for private burial. 2) Request that HMS arrange for cremation, which is conducted offsite at a facility approved by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Cremated remains can be returned to the donor’s designee, picked up by the donor’s designee at HMS, or buried in a registered grave at Pine Hill Cemetery in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, at HMS’ expense. A memorial service is held every fall to honor donors buried at Pine Hill Cemetery.

No. Massachusetts law prohibits payment for a body donation.

Whole-body donation involves a donor choosing to give their whole body, including organs and tissues, to a research university for the advancement of medical education and research. Organ and/or tissue donation focuses on recovering organs and tissues from registered donors to gift to individuals on transplant waiting lists. The Anatomical Gift Program at HMS is a whole-body donation program.

Anatomical gift donors at HMS represent a range of ages, backgrounds, and every conceivable walk of life. We have an equal number of men and women donors. The majority of donors are White, and we also have some donors who are Black, African American, Asian, and Pacific Islanders.

In accordance with the Massachusetts Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, individuals can arrange for the donation of their remains by executing the Instrument of Anatomical Gift (pdf). For the Instrument to be valid, the individual must be of sound mind and over 18 years of age, and the Instrument must be signed by two witnesses. The original Instrument is sent to Harvard Medical School, after which the individual will be registered in the program and will receive their letter of acknowledgment and donor card. Individuals may withdraw their donation at any time by notifying the Anatomical Gift Program in writing of their change of intention. For more information, individuals considering donating their remains to the HMS Anatomical Gift Program can email agp@hms.harvard.edu or call 617-432-1735.

Registered donors who wish to withdraw from the program should send their request in writing to agp@hms.harvard.edu or by mail to: Anatomical Gift Program, Harvard Medical School, Tosteson Medical Education Center Suite 384, 260 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. Once the written request is received, the Anatomical Gift Program will send a formal rescind letter to the donor and update our records accordingly.

At the time of the donor’s death, the person responsible for making final arrangements calls Harvard Medical School ASAP at 617-432-1735 to determine if the donation can be accepted. (Although most donors are accepted, HMS reserves the right to decline bodies not suitable for medical study or other reasons.) HMS must receive the donor remains within 24 hours after death, unless a specific exemption is granted. Once a gift is accepted, a funeral director is chosen by the family and consults with HMS about the transportation of the body to HMS. The donor’s remains will stay at HMS for a period of up to approximately 24 months, during which time the remains will be used for medical education and research.

In addition to educating students at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine, the anatomy labs and donor remains at HMS are used for educational purposes by physician assistants, residents, and physical therapists in a limited number of accredited programs representing Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), MGH Institute for Health Professions, and Simmons University.

When studies are complete within a period of up to 24 months, Harvard Medical School carries out the disposition of the remains as directed by the donor on the Instrument of Anatomical Gift. The options available to the donor’s designee are to: 1) Reclaim the remains at the expense of the estate or family for private burial. 2) Request that HMS arrange for cremation, which is conducted offsite at a facility approved by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Cremated remains can be returned to the donor’s designee, picked up by the donor’s designee at HMS, or buried in a registered grave at Pine Hill Cemetery in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, at HMS’ expense. A memorial service is held every fall to honor donors buried at Pine Hill Cemetery.

Harvard Medical School made the decision to temporarily pause the acceptance of registered donor remains beginning June 14, 2023, and began accepting donations again on Nov. 15, 2023. Each year, these generous donations support the teaching of medical and dental students, postgraduate physicians, and students in related disciplines. Private donation is the sole source of these precious educational and research resources. 

Harvard Medical School reaffirms our deep sorrow and empathy for individuals who may have been impacted. In June 2023, HMS launched a webpage with available resources for family members at: https://hms.harvard.edu/family-resources. On June 14, 2023, we expedited a letter to documented designees of donors to inform them of Lodge’s alleged crime and share the available resources (HMS relied on mailed letters because we did not have email contacts for the designees). HMS also established an information and support line for donors’ loved ones that was active from June to December 2023.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in June 2023 that they would continue to attempt to identify victims and contact as many of the victims’ families affected by Lodge’s conduct as possible. They also indicated that given the nature of the alleged crime, it may never be possible to identify specific donors who were affected. In June 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said that anyone who believes they or a family member may have been affected by the conduct charged in the indictments should contact the Victim and Witness Unit at USAPAM.Victim.Information@usdoj.gov or 717-614-4249. Please note that the criminal investigation and prosecution of Cedric Lodge has now concluded.

On June 14, 2023, HMS mailed expedited letters to the documented designees of donors for all anatomical donors over the previous two decades. This is a much broader timeframe than what is included in the indictment (“in or about 2018 through on or about August 16, 2022”) because we wanted to be transparent and cast a wide net to inform families about this incident. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in June 2023 that they would continue to attempt to identify victims of Lodge’s conduct and contact as many of the victims’ families affected by this case as possible. They also indicated that given the nature of the alleged crime, it may never be possible to identify specific donors who were impacted by Lodge. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in June 2023 that anyone who believed they or a family member may have been affected by the conduct charged in the indictments should contact the Victim and Witness Unit at USAPAM.Victim.Information@usdoj.gov or 717-614-4249. Please note that the criminal investigation and prosecution of Cedric Lodge has now concluded.

The letters sent from HMS in June 2023 were mailed to documented designees of donors. The text of the letters is available our website. We were unable to provide letters to additional family members beyond those listed by the donor on the form gifting their body.

The information included in the letters sent to anatomical donors’ documented designees in June 2023 was based on details supplied by federal authorities in combination with HMS’ own records of Lodge’s absences from work during that time frame. The U.S. Attorney's Office said in June 2023 that they would continue to attempt to identify victims of Lodge’s conduct and contact as many of the victims’ families affected by this case as possible. They also indicated that given the nature of the alleged crime, it may never be possible to identify specific donors who were affected. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in June 2023 that anyone who believed they or a family member may have been affected by the conduct charged in the indictments should contact the Victim and Witness Unit at USAPAM.Victim.Information@usdoj.gov or 717-614-4249. Please note that the criminal investigation and prosecution of Cedric Lodge has now concluded.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in June 2023 that they would continue to attempt to identify victims of Lodge’s conduct and contact as many of the victims’ families affected by this case as possible. They also indicated that given the nature of the alleged crime, it may never be possible to identify specific donors who were affected. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in June 2023 that anyone who believed they or a family member may have been affected by the conduct charged in the indictments should contact the Victim and Witness Unit at USAPAM.Victim.Information@usdoj.gov or 717-614-4249. Please note that the criminal investigation and prosecution of Cedric Lodge has now concluded.

The Anatomical Gift Program at Harvard Medical School is a whole-body donation program, which means that people donate their entire body, including organs and tissues. We do not otherwise accept donations of organs or tissues. Therefore, if your loved one donated only a specific organ (such as a brain) or tissues for medical research, that donation must have been made to a separate program that has no connection to the Anatomical Gift Program at HMS and, therefore, would not have been impacted by Lodge’s alleged criminal activity.

There is no indication that the cremated remains you received are anyone’s but your loved one’s. Our understanding from federal investigators is that if Lodge had removed any remains, a donor’s complete remains would not have been included in the container transported to the external crematorium, but there is no indication that any other individual’s remains were added to any container.

There is also no allegation or indication that any remains were mislabeled or misidentified. Once the remains are transported to the crematory, the container is immediately labeled with a casket tag that includes a four-digit HMS donor identification number and the crematory identification number. These numbers stay with the container until it is placed in the cremation chamber, at which time the tag is then placed on the outside of the chamber. After the cremation is completed, a tag is placed inside the box of cremated remains with the cremation number. All of the paperwork is kept with the cremated remains. Two staff members from HMS retrieve the cremated remains and verify that all of the numbers match on all of the paperwork, the casket tag, the affidavit of cremation, and the crematory signature sheet (signing for the cremated remains). Once satisfied, HMS staff members sign the crematory verification form stating all of the numbers are correct. The cremated remains are then brought back to HMS, stored in a locked, fireproof cremated remains cabinet, and their location is changed in the database to reflect their storage in the morgue cremated remains cabinet. Depending on the donor’s wishes, cremated remains are then returned to the donor’s designee, picked up by the donor’s designee at HMS, or buried in a registered grave at Pine Hill Cemetery in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, at HMS’ expense. A memorial service is held every fall to honor donors buried at Pine Hill Cemetery.

Our understanding, based on information supplied by federal authorities and HMS’ own records, is that the alleged thefts occurred after students completed their anatomical studies.

Yes, upon learning about the alleged criminal activity, HMS conducted a thorough review and confirmed that all anatomical donors’ bodies/remains that should have been at HMS in June 2023 were on site and accounted for.

Investigators believe that what occurred was the result of an individual acting alone, without the knowledge or cooperation of anyone else at HMS or Harvard. HMS is dedicated to lifelong learning and 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 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 the generous whole-body donations it receives. The panel concluded its work and released its report in December 2023. 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.