Alabama judge denies motion to dismiss prison organ theft lawsuit against UAB

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — A lawsuit against UAB regarding the alleged theft of organs from a federal prison inmate will move forward.

A judge denied a motion Wednesday morning to dismiss the lawsuit in Jefferson County Circuit Court. The lawsuit is based on the alleged theft of Matthew Herrell’s organs.

According to his family, Herrell was an inmate at the federal prison in Talladega when he died in 2023. His family said after he died his organs were harvested and then used as teaching tools by UAB.

Harrell’s mother, Violet Herrell, said her son died while playing basketball at the prison.

“His cause of death: acute heart attack,” Violet Herrell said. “There was no shock treatment done. They didn’t do the shock treatment to his heart.”

Herrell said she had minimal communication about his death. It wasn’t until later that she learned his organs had been harvested and were being kept at UAB. The hospital that performed his autopsy.

“We are not here because we object to legitimate autopsies,” attorney Lauren Faraino said. “We are not here to go against organ donation or medical research. I’m an organ donor. So this is not a question of whether we should be supporting medical research. We absolutely should, but it’s very simple. You ask consent. You get permission from the families.”

UAB lawyers said in court keeping the organs is standard procedure for autopsies, which attorneys for Harrell’s family argued against. Faraino, who is representing Harrell’s family, said Wednesday’s decision is the first step in a long road ahead.

“Today, I think what is clear is that UAB is attempting to escape responsibility and liability on technicalities,” Faraino said. “We know that something really wrong happened here, UAB. The decisions that the pathology department has made has put these families through a tremendous amount of grief and suffering.”

The attorneys representing UAB declined to comment on the case after Wednesday hearing. CBS 42 was told the next step in this lawsuit will include motions that have a 30-day deadline to be filed.