Harvard asks judge to toss lawsuit over medical school's mishandling of human remains
Harvard University has asked a Massachusetts judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by families who were impacted by its medical school mishandling human remains.
Harvard University has asked a Massachusetts judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by families who were impacted by its medical school mishandling human remains.
According to the Harvard Crimson, the Cambridge, Massachusetts university filed a motion to dismiss and claimed immunity from any legal action in the class action lawsuit, which includes nine cases and alleged breach of fiduciary duty, infliction of emotional distress, and negligence.
In asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed, Harvard referenced the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act and argued that the institution was acting in “good faith” in order to comply with the donors’ wishes, which would grant the institution immunity.
As Campus Reform previously reported, Harvard Medical School’s morgue manager Cedric Lodge was indicted in June for allegedly stealing human remains and then selling them in a nation trafficking ring.
[RELATED: Harvard morgue manager charged in national cadaver trafficking scandal]
Lawyers representing the families responded to the motion, claiming that Harvard’s reading of the law was too broad.
“The statute does not go so far as to afford blanket immunity to donees for anything that happens to the body after donation,” lawyers for the families wrote in a filing.
Jeffrey N. Catalano, who is representing the families, wrote: “We have alleged bad faith through Cedric Lodge. Cedric Lodge is Harvard, whether they want to be married to him or not.”
[RELATED: LAWSUIT: UNM allegedly took donated remains of unborn baby for experiments]
Catalano told The Harvard Crimson that Harvard isn’t protected from their lawsuit.
“The fact that [Lodge] did something which Harvard admits is egregious doesn’t insulate them,” Catalano said. “In fact, it just kind of implicates them.”
