Harvard University has agreed to a $53m settlement to resolve civil lawsuits over the illegal theft and sale of human remains donated to its medical school for research. The scandal, which involved a former morgue manager, Cedric Lodge, 58, who was sentenced in December to eight years in prison after pleading guilty in May to stealing and selling body parts, has left the institution with a hefty bill and a PR nightmare.

Lodge, along with his wife Denise Lodge, 65, who got 12 months and a day for her role, ran a nationwide scheme from 2018 through at least March 2020, stealing organs, skin, brains, and dissected heads from cadavers donated to Harvard. The remains were transported from the morgue in Boston to locations in Salem, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, where buyers resold them for profit. The justice department noted that many of the remains were resold, because apparently one black market sale wasn't enough.

As part of the settlement, Harvard Medical School will hold a live webinar to tell claimant families that Lodge's conduct was 'morally reprehensible' and inconsistent with Harvard's standards - a revelation that surely comes as a shock to those who donated bodies in good faith. The school will also establish an annual financial aid scholarship for medical students starting in the 2027-28 academic year, which it says is intended 'in appreciation and in honor of all of our anatomical donors.'

Affected families began suing in the summer of 2023, alleging negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and infliction of emotional distress. In a statement titled 'An abhorrent betrayal,' deans George Daley and Edward Hundert called the actions 'morally reprehensible' - a phrase that seems to be getting a lot of mileage. Daley and Bernard S Chang, dean for medical education, wrote in an email that the settlement avoids 'prolonged litigation,' which is a fancy way of saying 'we'd rather pay $53m than keep reliving this.'

'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,' the deans wrote. 'These events do not reflect the reverence we hold for the altruistic individuals who selflessly donate their bodies to our Anatomical Gift Program. We reaffirm our deep sorrow and empathy for the families of donors who may have been impacted.'

Indeed, nothing says 'reverence' like a scholarship fund and a webinar.