The unregulated body parts industry is booming—with heads going for $3KBy Joshua Rhett Miller
June 28, 2023
A nationwide network of stolen body parts allegedly involving a Harvard Medical School morgue manager has revealed a thriving and macabre market for human remains, experts told The Post.
Federal prosecutors allege Cedric Lodge, 55, stole body parts including heads and brains that were donated for research at Harvard Medical School and intended for eventual cremation.
Lodge, who previously managed Harvard’s Anatomical Gift Program, and his wife, Denise allegedly sold them online to buyers from 2018 through last August.
Federal prosecutors said the “egregious” sprawling conspiracy also involved an Arkansas mortuary employee who sold body parts on Facebook for nearly $11,000 and a Massachusetts store owner who bought a human skull to create a “killer clown”-style doll she later shared on Instagram.
A body donated for science — be it to a university or other research facility — is often only used for particular parts; what remains may then be sold by a body-broker to sell to other facilities, collectors or, really, anyone.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/06/28/the-body-parts-industry-is-boomingwith-heads-going-for-2k/