A Massachusetts Superior Court judge has dismissed negligence, infliction of emotional distress and other claims against Harvard and the operators of its medical school’s anatomical gift program by relatives of people whose donated bodies were allegedly abused, marketed and sold by the former morgue manager.
The judge found that Harvard and the program’s operators are protected from suit under a Massachusetts statute granting qualified immunity to those receiving bodies under anatomical gift programs.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Kenneth W. Salinger said that the allegations in the complaints do not plausibly suggest that Harvard and the program operators failed to act in good faith in receiving and handling the donated bodies, or that they are legally responsible for the former morgue manager’s alleged misconduct,