(DailyDig.com) – Family members filed legal claims against the Medical School at Harvard University and other employees, claiming the institution was complicit in the theft and black market sale of human remains by a former morgue manager of the medical school. A court in Massachusetts rejected the accusations.
Cedric Lodge, the morgue manager at Harvard University, is facing accusations of selling organs and tissues from donated corpses. He, along with others involved in the sale of body parts, is facing numerous criminal accusations in relation to the case.
After the previous morgue employee faced federal charges in June, plaintiffs subsequently filed a class action lawsuit. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs’ families claimed that Harvard failed to properly manage their loved ones’ donated corpses. On February 12, the judge found the school not guilty of any complaints.
According to Paula Peltonovich, her father is one of the morgue incident’s casualties. They sent his body to the Medical School at Harvard for study. After learning that someone had her father’s possessions, she expressed her desire to have them returned to her. According to her, Harvard’s ability to let this happen is incomprehensible.
The judge’s decision to throw out the civil complaint against Harvard was based on the school’s immunity from liability for an employee’s alleged misbehavior and its good-faith actions.
Kathryn Barnett, an attorney at Morgan & Morgan who handles representation for the families of the law firm’s clients, stated that Harvard received immunity. The courts have ruled that the university is not liable for the actions of the morgue regarding the remains that were placed in their care.
She expressed her deep disappointment with the judge’s decision and said that Harvard ignored the situation in the morgue. This decision will, essentially, give every school the green light to allow criminals to have free rein in its mortuary as long as no one is looking.
The families’ lawyers have already announced their intention to file an appeal.
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