Report by panel reviewing Harvard Medical School's body donor program delayed

Harvard Medical School said that a review of its body donation program, now mired in an interstate body parts theft scandal, won’t be completed until October.

Harvard assembled a panel of outside experts to examine its anatomical gift program after a longtime morgue manager was charged with stealing and selling body parts in June.

The three-member panel includes a former medical examiner and two people who lead body donation programs at other universities. Originally, the panel was slated to complete its work by summer’s end.

Harvard's program is one of several in Massachusetts that take private donations of human bodies for medical research purposes, such as the training of student health care providers. In the wake of the arrest of Harvard's morgue manager and several others connected to the alleged ring, some funeral industry leaders have called for greater oversight of medical programs like the one at Harvard.

Some people whose family members donated their bodies to the program expressed concerns that Harvard will be fully transparent about the panel's findings.

Lara Szent-Gyorgyi's mom, Gwen, donated her body to the school. Szent-Gyorgyi said she hopes the group will communicate with families like hers.

“Since we are the people who helped facilitate the donations [in the recent years], I think it would be useful for them to understand what would make us feel comfortable making that choice again," she said.

The former morgue manager, Cedric Lodge, pleaded not guilty to federal charges.