Harvard Med School Sued Again Over Stolen Body Parts

Harvard Medical School is just as much to blame as the former morgue manager at the school's mortuary who stole body parts and sold them to people across the country, Ana Weiss, whose father's body was impacted by the incident, said in a suit filed Thursday in Suffolk County Superior Court, Axios reports.

Weiss' suit is the latest in a string of similar class-action lawsuits against Harvard since Cedric Lodge and his wife, Denise, were indicted last month by a federal grand jury in Pennsylvania on charges of conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods.

The school failed to set up "precautions that would have prevented the establishment and operation of a body parts bazaar within their facility," Weiss' suit claims.

"This ghoulish black market was allowed to flourish in plain sight operated by an HMS morgue employee whose lack of respect for the dead was obvious to anyone who scrutinized his behavior; it is alleged that he drove to work each day and presumably parked in the HMS parking lot with a license plate identifying him as the 'Grim-R' - as in, the grim reaper," the suit says.

"The Grim Reaper posted images of himself dressed up in the garb of the undertaker in a Dickens novel with a black top hat and overcoat. His license plate and open association with macabre hobbies revealed his view of his job at the morgue as a backdrop for his fantasies instead of a place of reverence and respect.

"This 'undertaker' invited his cohorts who fetishized human body parts to the morgue to shop. The Grim Reaper publicized his mocking moniker all while treating the morgue as an amusement park attraction for his friends and customers. Despite these tell-tale signs of malfeasance, he continued to have unfettered access to the remains donated to the morgue."

Harvard Medical School knew about the license plate and Cedric Lodge's penchant for "macabre hobbies," yet failed to supervise and monitor their employee," the suite alleges.

Harvard Medical School referred Axios to a letter from the dean in June when asked for comment.

"We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others," George Daley wrote.

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