'A real travesty': More than 300 people join lawsuit after remains stolen from Harvard morgue
BOSTON - A local nurse, who is suing over the misuse of human remains at the Harvard Medical School morgue, is talking about her family's fight for justice.
"We've heard from over 310 different people who've been profoundly affected emotionally," said Jonathan Sweet a Keches Law Group attorney.
More and more people have joined a class action lawsuit against Harvard Medical School over the illegal sale of body parts from donated cadavers. Janet Pizzi described her Uncle Mike as someone who wanted to support science.
"To find out now that this has happened and that he was affected at Harvard Medical School it really brought back a lot of pain and suffering," Pizzi said.
Pizzi is a nurse from Waltham. She says her work experience has given her insight into traumatic events, but nothing is comparable to what she, and others, have gone through.
"Not knowing something is a really, really, mentally tormenting thing," Pizzi said. "I've seen people through sickness illness, death, tragedy, and when you know things and you can understand them you can kind of wrap your arms around them and move forward, but for all these families who do not really know what has happened to their loved ones, this is a real travesty."
The former manager of the morgue, 55-year-old Cedric Lodge, is accused of stealing portions of human cadavers, taking them to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, then selling them online. He's been indicted on federal charges, as has his wife and two alleged buyers, including Katrina MacLean of Salem.
The lawsuit seeks damages, but more than that, Pizzi and others want to make sure this doesn't happen again.
"We have to have policies, systems, oversight in place for this type of facility to flourish and thrive so that we can have continued education but with respect and dignity," Pizzi said.