example, Skloot states, “As Cliff and Fred lowered Henrietta’s coffin into her grave and began covering her with handfuls of dirt, the sky turned black as strap molasses. The rain fell thick and fast. Then came long rumbling thunder…” and Henrietta’s cousin Peter, stated, “We shoulda knew she was trying to tell us something with that storm” (92). Skloot, includes this casual argument because it illustrates how Henrietta’s family believes Henrietta created the storm. Skloot also uses deductive reasoning, which goes from general to specific. For example, she states, “First, HeLa didn’t grow from one of Henrietta’s cells. It grew from a sliver of her tumor, which was a cluster of cells. Second, cells often behave differently, even if they’re all from the same sample, which means some grow faster than others” (99). Skloot uses deductive reasoning to explain how HeLa began and uses specific evidence. Skloot uses both types of reasoning in her book to create a stronger argument. Even though Anne Fadiman …show more content…
Rebecca Skloot writes: At that point, more than 15,000 women were dying each year from cervical cancer. The Pap smear had the potential to decrease that death rate by 70 percent or more, but there were two things standing in its way: first, many women- like Henrietta-simply didn’t get the test; and, second, even when they did, few doctors knew how to interpret the results accurately, because they didn’t know what the various stages of cervical cancer looked like under a microscope. (29) This statistical statement is meant to distract the reader from the real argument, which is how the doctors were taking cervical cancer cells from their patients without their consent. This fallacy hurts Skloot’s credibility because as a reader it seems like she is ignoring one of her main points in her argument, which is the unethical removal of their patient’s cells that doctors were
The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is the result of years of research done by Skloot on an African American woman with cervical cancer named Henrietta Lacks. Cells from Lacks’ tumor are taken and experimented on without her knowledge. These cells, known as HeLa cells, are the first immortal human cells ever grown. The topic of HeLa cells is at the center of abundant controversial debates. Despite the fact that her cells are regarded as, “one of the most important advancements in the last hundred years” (4), little is actually known about the woman behind the cells. Skloot sets out on a mission to change this fact and share the story of the woman from whom the cells originate and her family as they deal with the effects these cells have on them.
In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot mainly focuses on three areas, the life of Henrietta Lacks and her family, ethics in the medical and research fields, and scientific advances due to HeLa cells. Skloot integrates examples of ethical controversies regarding the HeLa cells and related topics, and sociological benefits
Even in the medical field, male doctors were dominate to the hundreds of well educated midwives. “Male physicians are easily identified in town records and even in Martha’s diary, by the title “Doctor.” No local woman can be discovered that way” (Ulrich, 1990, pg.61). Martha was a part of this demoralized group of laborers. Unfortunately for her, “in twentieth-century terms, the ability to prescribe and dispense medicine made Martha a physician, while practical knowledge of gargles, bandages, poultices and clisters, as well as willingness to give extended care, defined her as a nurse” (Ulrich, 1990, pg.58). In her diary she even portrays doctors, not midwives, as inconsequential in a few medical
Although she was taken from the world too soon, Henrietta Lacks was a warm hearted woman, and though unbeknownst to her, she would pave the way for the medical field and greatly expand our understanding of one of the nation’s greatest killers; cancer. In 1951 people did not talk about cancer lightly; cancer was a very touchy subject, especially for those who knew they couldn’t receive treatment once they had been diagnosed. When Lacks went to the hospital because of a “knot on her womb” she never thought that it would grow into a full fledge tumor that would end up taking her life. Henrietta lived a simple yet happy life which consisted of working on the farm, loving her husband, and raising children, and she was not going to ruin the lifestyle she knew so well by telling her family that she had cancer; it was just unheard of.
The novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is divided into 3 sections: life, which tells the reader about Henrietta’s life and the birth of HeLa; death, which consists of times after Henrietta’s death, and lastly; immortality, which discusses how Henrietta’s cells have become immortal. Overall, the book is based on Henrietta and the lives of her children and how they cope with the way medical science has treated their mother. Though the book is not written in chronological order, Skloot does a good job of organizing her information according to its section.
Sometimes people cant help but feel entitled to payment when they make a contribution to a money-making prfit, idea or discovery. The issue is that sometimes, those charities are too small and simple to warrant a reward. Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks brings up the problem of sharing a incentive, as many members of the Lacks family feel justifiable of a share in the money made from research done on Henrietta’s cancer cells. By writing about the Lacks family and their knowledge with the Hela cells, Skloot’s readers may see eye to eye on the fact that they deserve compensation. Although, when the facts are taken into consideration, it makes sense that the Lacks’ do not receive money for their mothers big contribution to science. A donor is usually needed for scientists to make important assumptions or discoveries through studying donated cells or even tissue. However, the donor is not necessarily deserving of a share of any of the profits that the scientist earns because the persons role in the research is much less signifgant than many belive and the actual r...
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.
According to the Belmont Report (1979), justice is relevant to the selection of subjects of research at two levels: the social and the individual. Skloot (2010) describes how “Gey took any cells he could get his hands on” and how “TeLinde began collecting samples from any woman who walked into Hopkins with cervical cancer” (p. 30). These two doctors did not exhibit fairness in their selection of subjects. Dr. TeLinde was collecting samples from women on the color ward and did not consider the appropriateness of placing further burdens on already burdened persons. The women whose tissue samples are being gathered for research are the women who will most likely be the last to benefit; because more advantaged populations (wealthy and white) will initially be the primary
Henrietta’s cells were being inaugurated with space travel, infused into rat cells, and even being used to make infertile hens fertile again. However, these are only a few of the many accomplishments that Henrietta’s immortal cells made possible: “The National Cancer Institute was using various cells, including HeLa, to screen more than thirty thousand chemicals and plant extracts, which would yield several of today’s most widely used and effective chemotherapy drugs, including Vincristine and Taxol,”(pg.139). This example of logos from the text again shows just how important these Henrietta’s cells were to the future developments in
In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot’s interpretation of the HeLa phenomenon gave the readers a glimpse into her opinion of biomedical research during Henrietta’s time. The great leaps in scientific research caused many scientists to become excited for what was to come. However, this excitement caused Henrietta’s doctors—and many others— to neglect their patients’ rights. Namely, many patients, including Henrietta, were oblivious to what the doctors were actually doing to them. Consequently, the doctors held all the power in their relationship with their patients. Skloot’s depictions of Henrietta and Moore’s battles show the readers the harm that was done due to this power. By and large, Skloot’s portrayal of the biomedical field is dim, but has promise for the future. And this promise for the future can only come from more pro-patient regulations.
Accompanied by Deborah Lacks, Rebecca explores the world of science and medicine in order to better understand the scientific perspective on Henrietta Lacks and HeLa. Given that Henrietta’s immortal cell line has played such a crucial role in the evolution of modern science and medicine, Skloot understands that her narrative account would be incomplete without consideration thereof. However, Rebecca also considers that the scientific knowledge of Henrietta and HeLa began to develop even before her death, and grew just as quickly as the cell line did, thereby proving one of the most thoroughly-developed and collected sources of knowledge about Henrietta. A final consideration for Skloot is that the rapid advances in scientific knowledge occurred unbeknownst to the Lacks family. Therefore, Skloot’s exploration of science pertaining to Henrietta is at once a historical, medical, and reparative effort that acknowledges various disparities of information and
"Women's Health." Pap Test Procedure, Test Results, What Abnormal Results Mean, and More. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. .
The Smear Campaign launched on 10/03/2014 by NHS Greater Glasgow is aimed at women aged 20 – 35 in this region. The campaign aims to diminish the barriers which are stopping women from attending their routine cervical screenings. It is backed by 2 famous Scottish radio DJ’s, Radio Clyde’s Knoxy and Suzie McGuire, and they are trying to promote the benefits of attending these screenings to banish the myths that they are painful and embarrassing. According to Emilia Crighton, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, “New research shows that the main barriers stopping women from attending cervical screening (smear test) are fear, embarrassment and pain.” (http://www.nhsggc.org.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1192_3&newsid=17764&back=home). They encourage women to watch their online video which shares the story of a woman who attended her routine cervical screening and was found to have early cancerous cells on her cervix. This smear test helped detect these cells and the 3 videos can be seen online via Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6QEdma5SDw, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pe-Njiiv38&list=PLmuRxztsS0Nxxx-2_til-mHfG20topFyt, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfO9bWNJHFA&list=PLmuRxztsS0Nxxx-2_til-mHfG20topFyt. These videos use humour as well as factual information to promote the benefits of attending regular smear tests, which is available for anyone to watch who has an internet connection. This campaign is widely promoted through the use of social media, these videos are displayed on YouTube and this campaign has been advertised on the internet and in various news articles.
The story about Henrietta Lacks is the evidence that the ethics of medical processes need to be improved. For a long time, many patients have been victims of malpractice. Sometimes, the doctors still can do anything without the agreement from patients. Any medical institution needs to hold the integrity on any consent form that is signed by a patient. To summarize, the story of Henrietta Lacks could be the way to improve the standardization and equality of medical institutions in the future.
cancer. The early Pap test detection can help doctors treat cervical cancer better. Devesh. M