A judge Tuesday urged a settlement of a lawsuit that claims UCLA's School of Medicine wrongfully dumped donated bodies, saying it would be "financially ruinous" for both sides to continue when as many as 8,000 plaintiffs potentially are involved.

Superior Court Commissioner Bruce E. Mitchell suggested that the University of California, Los Angeles, resolve the case, perhaps by making some sort of charitable donation.

Attorneys are seeking class-action status for a 1996 lawsuit that contends the university promised that corpses donated for research would be cremated after use and the ashes scattered in a rose garden or at sea.

Instead, the suit contends that the remains were wrongfully cremated with dead lab animals and fetuses before the ashes were dumped in a medical waste landfill.

UCLA administrators in 1996 acknowledged problems with the donor program. The university closed its crematorium and apologized for the treatment of some bodies.

But during Tuesday's two-hour court hearing, UCLA's lawyers argued that donors never were promised a burial service.

The judge did not rule on whether to certify the suit for class action, saying he wanted more information. He scheduled a hearing for Sept. 22.

The suit, filed by the son of a cancer patient whose body was donated to UCLA, was filed on behalf of donors from the 1950s to 1993. It seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract, negligence and fraud. It names UCLA, the University of California Board of Regents and others.