The story revolves around the character Henrietta lacks, from whom cervical cancer cell lines now known as HeLa cells were obtained. The book is written by Rebecca skloot which describes her experiences while she was in the process of collecting information and writing the story and what all things she has to go through when she contacted Henrietta’s family. The first half of the story describes the life of Henrietta, how unethically cells were obtained and how the HeLa cell line was a great breakthrough to science. The second part of the story talks about the struggle that Henrietta’s family has to face to give recognition to Henrietta for what she has given to science and some other ethical issues that still bother the scientific community. …show more content…
For example Dr Jones who was Henrietta’s doctor should have taken informed consent from Henrietta for removal of tissue samples. Furthermore, Dr Jones and Dr Gey should have informed Henrietta about the cells and acknowledged her. Even though Dr Gey did not make any monetary benefit from HeLa cells he should have disclosed any financial interest in the consent form. Dr Jones and Dr Gey had good intentions as far as developing a human immortal cell line is concerned. Because having an immortal cell line definitely would have helped the scientific community. But Dr Gey did not realize that HeLa would become so popular and later on people will have objections for ethical concerns. Since he was one who sent HeLa cells all around the globe, he should have acknowledged Henrietta’s contribution. At least later when HeLa cells was very succesful, scientist or doctors at Hopkins should have informed henrietta’s family about her contribution to science. This would have acknowledged Henrietta, and that might have change the course for Henrietta’s family. Since HeLa cells became famous, everyone came to know about the ethical issues involved in this whole story. Imagine if HeLa cells were just a normal cell line, no one would have bothered to look into it. These ethical issues would not have come up. So the rule of thumb should be irrespective of person’s financial status, religion, and ethnicity, color if any tissue sample is removed from a …show more content…
A patient has the right to say no whether to remove tissue from his or her body, but presently there is no law governing the right of a person over how his/her tissue sample should be used in research after the tissue is removed from the body. There are many cases where the patients have sued doctors for illegally using their tissues and patenting them but all them involved wrong behavior on doctors part either the doctor did not inform the patient about the tissue removal or the doctor did not disclose his financial interest in that tissue. At the same time, if the patient has the right for directing in which kind of study the tissues can be used, then this will hinder scientific progress. Both sides seem to be right on their part. But to find a midway between this can be very difficult. One way can be that before removing the tissues from patients body, any financial interest of the doctor or the institutions should be disclosed on the consent form and the patients should be informed in what kind of research his tissue will be used. In case if the patient does not agree, it is better not to remove the tissue. Because we have to respect patients emotions and whatever he believes. One other way is to give patient apt monetary benefit for their tissue donations, but then after this patient should not have a right to say in what kind of research his tissue can be
All I can say is amazing information of your glorious and late Henrietta Lacks. This incedible women bettered our society in ways no common human could understand at the time because of how complex this matter was and still very much indeed is. I know there is much contraversy with the matter of how scientists achived immortal cells from your late relative, and I do strongly agree with the fact that it was wrong for these researches to take advantage of this incredible women, but I know it is not for me to say nonethless it must be said that even though it was wrong to take Lacks’ cells when she was dying sometimes one must suffer to bring joy to the entire world.
An abstraction can be defined as something that only exists as an idea. People are considered abstractions when they are dehumanized, forgotten about, or segregated and discriminated against. The scientific community and the media treated Henrietta Lacks and her family as abstractions in several ways including; forgetting the person behind HeLa cells, giving sub-par health care compared to Caucasians, and not giving reparations to the Lacks family. On the other hand, Rebecca Skloot offers a different perspective that is shown throughout the book. Rebecca Skloot’s book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks describes the trials and tribulations the Lacks family has gone through because of HeLa cells and shows how seeing a person as an abstraction is a dangerous thing.
Without them, we would be decades behind because the average person would not find signing away a piece of their body acceptable. Skloot brings up a case where a man sues a scientist for doing research on his removed spleen without his consent. The author states that those in favor of research said it “…would ‘create chaos for reseachers’ and ‘[sound] the death kneel to the university physician-scientist’. They called it ‘a threat to the sharing of tissue for research purposes,’ and worried that patients would block the progress of science by holding out for excessive profits, even with cells that weren’t worth millions…” (203). The concern shown from the quote was that with extensive limitations on research and tight ethical codes, the information found would be inadequate at best. On one hand, you do need to be honest with the patient, but for the cost of so many lives, there needs to be a balance of creating breakthroughs and appeasing those who matter in the situation. In regards to Henrietta, she did sign a document to have any medical procedure done that was deemed necessary by her doctors. With that being said, she did unknowingly give away some of her rights as a
Henrietta Lacks is not a common household name, yet in the scientific and medical world it has become one of the most important and talked names of the century. Up until the time that this book was written, very few people knew of Henrietta Lacks and how her cells contributed to modern science, but Rebecca Skloot aimed to change this. Eventually Skloot was able to reach Henrietta’s remaining family and through them she was able to tell the story of not only the importance of the HeLa cells but also Henrietta’s life.
Most people live in capitalist societies where money matters a lot. Essentially, ownership is also of significance since it decides to whom the money goes. In present days, human tissues matter in the scientific field. Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, shows how Henrietta Lacks’s cells have been used well, and at the same time, how they have been a hot potato in science because of the problem of the ownership. This engages readers to try to answer the question, “Should legal ownership have to be given to people?” For that answer, yes. People should be given the rights to ownership over their tissues for patients to decide if they are willing to donate their tissues or not. Reasons will be explained as follows.
Henrietta Lacks was born on August 18, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia. She stayed with her grandfather who also took care of her other cousins, one in particular whose name is David (Day) Lacks. As Henrietta grew up, she lived with both her Grandpa Tommy and Day and worked on his farm. Considering how Henrietta and Day were together from their childhood, it was no surprise that they started having kids and soon enough got married. As the years continued, Henrietta noticed that she kept feeling like there was a lump in her womb/cervix and discovered that there was a lump in her cervix. Soon enough, Henrietta went to Johns Hopkins Medical Center to get this check and learned that she had cervical cancer. But here is where the problem arises, Henrietta gave full consent for her cancer treatment at Hopkins, but she never gave consent for the extraction and use of her cells. During her first treatment TeLinde, the doctor treating Henrietta, removed 2 sample tissues: one from her tumor and one from healthy cervical tissue, and then proceeded to treat Henrietta, all the while no one knowing that Hopkins had obtained tissue samples from Henrietta without her consent. These samples were later handed to ...
In “Part 1: Life” of “The immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, she starts telling us the life of Henrietta, where she grew, that she married Day, and everything she went trough with her cancer. But, more than that, Skloot is trying to show us the ethical, social, and health issues black people had back in those days, and also she wants to let us know how lucky we are to live in this period where we have a lot of opportunities, racism is not a strong movement but still affects the society a little, and of course give thanks to the advances of the medical and science world most of it because of the HeLa cells.
Dr. TeLinde and Dr. Gey were collecting samples for reasons that could potentially bring large benefit to society, but they did not consider how the individuals who provided the sample would directly benefit. In the case of Henrietta her tissue sample ultimately led to major medical advances, but due to the fact that when the sample was taken the researchers did not give forethought to the benefits and risks that might occur; therefore, Henrietta and her family were exposed to severe loss of privacy and did not receive any form of benefits from the widespread use of her cell line. The Belmont Report (1979) states how relevant risks and benefits must be thoroughly outlined in the documents used in the informed consent process. The research was not well designed in the assessment of risks and benefits component and did not consider this
In Rebecca Skloot’s novel The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the author investigates the origin of a line of “immortal cells” used for research on various diseases. The cells were immortal in the sense that they continued to multiply long after the person from whom they came passed away. This quality made them priceless in the field of medical research. The cells were called HeLa, after the person from whom the cells were initially harvested-Henrietta Lacks. As Rebecca learns more about Henrietta and her family, certain injustices in the field of public health are made apparent.
While doctors and scientists were making millions of dollars through HeLa research, Henrietta’s family was living in poverty. Lawrence Lacks, Henrietta’s firstborn child, says, “Hopkins say they gave them cells away, but they made millions! It’s not fair! She’s the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother so important to science, why can’t we get health insurance?” (pg.168). Someone who disagrees with this standpoint may argue that scientists had been trying for years to develop the perfect culture medium and had a much more hands on experience with the cells (pg.35), therefore, they should be receiving the earnings from any outcomes the HeLa cells may produce. While the scientists were in fact the brains behind the scientific advances, the family should be acknowledged on behalf of Henrietta Lacks. These successes in science would not have been possible without the origin of the cells: Henrietta Lacks. For some of the family, the primary focus was not even the profit. “Since they gone ahead and taken her cells and they been so important for science, Deborah thought, least they can do is give her credit for it.” (pg. 197). Here, Deborah Lacks, Henrietta’s fourth born child, makes it clear that her primary concern is getting her mother the recognition that she deserves for her
The author uses this title or section to describe the woman behind the cells she’s so famous for, to bring life to her. This section of the book brings in the human aspect of Henrietta so that the reader will first see her as a person before acknowledging her as HeLa. This section helps aid the reader with an emotional attachment to her as a person. Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 1920. Her birth name was Loretta Pleasant but "No one knows how she became Henrietta" (Skloot18). This quote stands out as it becomes clear that little is known about a woman who contributed so much. This section of the book draws the reader in and sheds light on Henrietta’s life. Her life is far from easy, even before she becomes sick. She is a strong black woman who becomes a mother at the tender age of 14. She later moves to Turner Station with her unfaithful husband and faces poverty and segregation throughout her entire life. By giving this section its own place in the book and putting it first, enlightens the reader on who she
Nowadays, when patients are given consent forms, every step is explicitly stated so that there is no confusion or harm. All in all, Henrietta Lacks has contributed and made significant changes to the scientific, ethical, and political aspects of society.
Rebecca Skloot’s novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, depicts the violation of medical ethics from the patient and researcher perspectives specifically when race, poverty, and lack of medical education are factors. The novel takes place in the southern United States in 1951. Henrietta Lacks is born in a poor rural town, Clover, but eventually moves to urban Turner Station. She was diagnosed and treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins hospital where cells was unknowingly taken from her and used for scientific research. Rebecca Skloot describes this when she writes, “But first—though no one had told Henrietta that TeLinde was collecting sample or asked she wanted to be a donor—Wharton picked up a sharp knife and shaved two dime-sized pieces of tissue from Henrietta's cervix: one from her tumor, and one from the healthy cervical tissue nearby. Then he placed the samples in a glass dish” (33). The simple act of taking cells, which the physicians did not even think twice about, caused decades
In the 1960s the HeLa cells were everywhere. In the 1960s the scientist wondered since the cells grew so fast and lived on earth so well if they would live in space. They got the idea to send the Hela cells to space. They sent several vials into space by the Discoverer XVII when it went. They discovered that when the HeLa cells went to space they became more powerful and divided faster every time they went to space. Several years later in 1965 they took equal amounts from the HeLa cells and cells from a mouse. The scientists done this to study to see what the genes would do. Harris also took HeLa cells and chicken cells, but they discovered they couldn’t reproduce.
The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, was a nonfiction story about the life of Henrietta Lacks, who died of cervical cancer in 1951. Henrietta did not know that her doctor took a sample of her cancer cells a few months before she died. “Henrietta cells that called HeLa were the first immortal human cells ever grown in a laboratory” (Skloot 22). In fact, the cells from her cervix are the most important advances in medical research. Rebecca was interested to write this story because she was anxious with the story of HeLa cells. When she was in biology class, her professor named Donald Defler gave a lecture about cells. Defler tells the story about Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells. However, the professor ended his lecture when he said that Henrietta Lacks was a black woman. In this book, Rebecca wants to tell the truth about the story of Henrietta Lacks during her medical process and the rights for Henrietta’s family after she died.