Scranton, Pennsylvania - Multiple lawsuits filed by the families of people whose body parts were stolen from Harvard Medical School and sold by the morgue manager were dismissed on Tuesday.

Kathryn Barnett, a lawyer representing the families, vowed they would appeal the ruling.

"We are profoundly disappointed with this decision, but it is not the final word on our efforts to prevent Harvard from shirking its responsibility," she said. "We will appeal."

Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Salinger said the negligence lawsuits failed to show Harvard was responsible for the conduct of Cedric Lodge, the medical school's former morgue manager who's accused of taking parts from cadavers between 2018 and early 2023 before he was fired last May. The body parts had been donated to the school for educational and research purposes.

Crime Bodies of US and Australian surfers discovered in Mexico after disappearance

Lodge allegedly mailed body parts – including heads, brains, skin, and bones – to buyers from his New Hampshire home. He also allegedly welcomed buyers to the morgue to pick out which body parts they wanted to purchase.

Lodge, his wife, and others involved in the scheme are facing several federal criminal charges.

Nearly 50 relatives filed 12 separate lawsuits against the school before those suits were consolidated. Barnett said the families support donating bodies for science, but that institutions like Harvard need to make sure those remains are handled properly.

"If you're an institution and want to accept bodies for science, you could just hire someone, give him the keys to the morgue, send him to a dark corner of the campus and never check up on him," she said. "That can't be the law."