Advertisement
Boston's Morning Newsletter
What's the latest on Harvard's morgue scandal? Here's where things stand now
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
It’s been almost 11 months since news broke that Harvard Medical School’s morgue manager was allegedly stealing and selling parts of donor bodies, exposing a national network of human remains trading. And many, especially family members of body donors, are still waiting on answers about how this happened — at Harvard of all places.
WBUR’s new narrative podcast Last Seen: Postmortem digs into the scandal at Harvard, the macabre history of our nation’s medical schools and the world of human-remains collectors. You can listen to all five episodes now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Before pressing play, I caught up with host and reporter Ally Jarmanning to check in about where the body theft case stands:
- What’s happened to Harvard since this all came out? Not much. The entire ordeal has been blamed on the one employee criminally charged in the case: former morgue manager Cedric Lodge. Inside Harvard Medical School, there appears to have been no other disciplinary action or legal accountability. In a statement to WBUR, Harvard expressed “deep sorrow for the uncertainty and distress that families face as the criminal proceedings continue.” Harvard officials called Lodge’s alleged actions “shocking and abhorrent.”
- The current criminal case: Lodge has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods. He is scheduled to go to trial in August. Several others have pleaded guilty, including Lodge’s wife, Denise. She admitted to a charge of interstate transport of stolen goods and faces up to 10 years in prison.
- The civil lawsuits: Donor families hoped a lawsuit could force Harvard to answer questions and provide documents about how the lab was run and how well Lodge was supervised. But a judge threw out the cases in February, saying there’s no evidence Harvard and Lodge’s supervisors didn’t act “in good faith.” The families have appealed.
- Harvard’s own review: Harvard’s handpicked panel, brought in to evaluate the anatomical gift program, wasn’t charged with reviewing what Lodge did or who should have known about it. Still, they found faults in how the program was run, from lax security to a subpar system for tracking donor bodies. Harvard said it’s made “significant security upgrades,” but wouldn’t go into specifics. Neither of Lodge’s bosses lost their jobs.
- The status of the body donor program now: After a five-month pause on taking bodies, Harvard’s program is back up and running. And it appears Harvard is hiring for Lodge’s old job — or one that sounds a lot like it. According to the posting, the employee will work “under minimal direction.” Among the responsibilities: “Upholds highest standards of care to ensure the utmost respect of all human body donors.”
Now, in other local news:
Coming soon: A National Guard armory in Lexington will become the state’s next overflow emergency shelter. WBUR’s Simón Rios reports the site will open later this month and host up to 55 of the 350 families currently in the state’s safety-net shelter program.
- State officials tell Simón the new shelter will be used to house some of the 84 families (or 281 people) staying at the Melnea Cass Recreation Complex in Boston, which is slated to close at the end this month.
- Heads up: New rules take effect today for families staying at the overflow shelters.
The latest: Tufts University is giving an ultimatum to the pro-Palestinian demonstrators camped out on campus: Clear out or face the consequences, including potential discipline and forcible removal.
- Elsewhere: An encampment at UMass Amherst was dismantled Tuesday following a warning from school officials, though students continue to protest. Meanwhile, Brown University reached a deal with student protesters to end the encampment in exchange for a board vote on their calls for the school to divest from companies with ties to the Israeli government.
- Go deeper: Read more about the history of school divestment protests and their effectiveness in changing company behavior.
Zoning up: Andover residents overwhelmingly approved a new zoning plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Act. The Eagle Tribune reports the changes were passed by a 434-196 vote last night. State officials have 90 days to review the plan. If green-lighted, the changes will take effect immediately.
P.S.— We’re going to keep beating the drum for googly eyes MBTA trains, the best civic pride-boosting idea since the cod flag. Check out the photos and signs from Monday’s very important and very silly “Googly Eyes on the MBTA” rally.
