Harvard Medical School has agreed to pay $53 million to settle a lawsuit tied to what became known as the morgue scandal, according to a report by The Harvard Crimson.
The case centers on the illegal sale of human remains that had been donated to the medical school for scientific research and education. Donors and their families gave body parts under the understanding that the remains would be used to train future physicians and advance medical knowledge. Instead, some of those remains were allegedly sold through an illegal trafficking scheme.
The settlement comes after the case drew national attention to the handling of donated human remains at one of the country's most prominent medical institutions. The amount, $53 million, represents one of the larger settlements tied to body parts trafficking at a medical institution in recent years.
The scandal raised broader questions about oversight of body donation programs at medical schools across the country. Human remains donated to science are not supposed to be sold or transferred for profit, and institutions that accept donations are expected to maintain strict controls over how those remains are stored, used, and ultimately disposed of.
Harvard Medical School has not publicly detailed the full scope of its planned changes to body donation program oversight as part of the settlement.
