Bioethics Inspired By Henrietta Lacks

These are issues because the cells of Henrietta lack were used to create “immortal” cells that provided a steady supply of cells for medical research and allowed to find cure for multiple diseases, and guaranteed the medical industry millions of dollar when her family his struggling to pay for healthcare. Moreover, researchers at Johns

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a true story of a poor, Southern African-American tobacco farmer who died in 1951 at the very young age of 31 years old from cervical cancer. Little did she know that cells harvested from her tumor, which were obtained without her consent have lived on and on and became one of the most important tools in medicine today. Despite Henrietta’s story being full of legal and ethical issues, the story was one filled with success and anguish. Success for science as her cells served as advancement in medical research and development; yet was sorrowful for Henrietta and her family. This story occurred during a time of segregation in the United States, when Henrietta Lacks believed she

Henrietta Lacks was a poor, black woman who died of cervical cancer in the fifties. Her cells were taken from her during surgery, without her knowledge. However, back then there were no laws about informed consent and the mindset was entirely different. Researchers knew little about cells and how they function. Her immortal cells allowed researchers to have an ample amount of resources to be able to study cells and later on develop vaccines and treatments for many diseases. Even though her cells were cancerous, they still shared many basic characteristics of a normal cell, which allowed researchers to learn a lot about a cell’s basic function. Her story explains how medical research has developed and how health care has progressed over the past sixty years.

In the novel, the immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Henrietta was a young black woman of 5 children whose cancerous cells were taken out without her knowledge. Those cells later became one of the most important tools in medicine. The case of John Moore vs. Regents of the University of California has similar ethical issues as present in the novel.

The scientific community’s careless mistreatment of the Lacks family began with dehumanizing Henrietta’s cells in the very first lab. Generalizing people can especially be easy when one is working with their cells in a lab. The many scientists working on Henrietta’s cells must have found it easy to separate the cells from the person and reduce them to tools to aid them in the task at hand. This view may be harmless when it comes to the individual scientist, and the individual cell, but this view extended to the entire Lacks family and caused them much harm. “Meanwhile, Victor McKusick and Susan Hsu had just published the results of their research in

The cells were kept alive long enough to allow the researchers to go in depth with studies and examinations. The ethical issue was, like stated before, that the Lacks family did not give physicians permission to take samples of her cells. But during that time permission was not required and that is why they were able to take the samples. In the court case of California v. Regents of UC in 1990 it was ruled that a person’s discarded tissue was not their property and could be used. The ethical concerns are still around today because recently researchers published their results and this affected the family. Things like lack of respect for the Lacks, just and even race and social class come into the conversation because of the use of her tissue without her consent.

In the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” the author, Rebecca Skloot, discusses many important points. The main point of this informative novel is how doctors from Hopkins hospital captured cells from an African American woman to study possible outcomes to many new ideas. This main point unfolds an analysis of how this event made many new discoveries, immortal memories, and prevented Henrietta’s family from varies negative situations. Firstly, this event helped unfold many new discoveries to medicine and to the medical revolution.

In the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot writes about Henrietta’s life and how her cells were taken for medical research. The book progresses by identifying how the medical breakthroughs and the realization that their mother’s cells were taken and experimented on impacted her family, the people around her, and the medical world. Skloot describes the vast amount of medical conditions that Henrietta’s cells, or HeLa cells, have improved or cured, yet the source of the cells is unknown. Henrietta’s personal identity was not associated with the cells. Skloot recalls an incident where biologist George Gey received Henrietta’s cells for research.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a book written by Rebecca Skloot that touches on many important issues. Of the dozens of issues referenced in the book, the one that stands out the most to me is bioethics. Bioethics is “the study of the typically controversial ethical issues emerging from new situations and possibilities brought about by advances in biology and medicine.” Bioethics plays a huge role in the story of Henrietta Lacks.

In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot tells the story of a woman who carried the first immortal cell line known as HeLa. Many ethical questions were raised in regards to the practices used to retrieve Henrietta’s cells which brought on numerous challenges for her family and friends. With her cells being the basis for many scientific discoveries, Henrietta declining to give consent for the use of her cells would completely change the world of science. With her cells, millions of lives have been saved. Her cells were also vital in creating the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, research with HIV/AIDS, and even cancer research.

For every rule made there's a reason. In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cancer, there was a tumor found in her cervix that rocketed the exploration of cancer cells. The HeLa cell, standing for Henrietta Lacks, was taken as a sample from her tumor and studied closely by George Gey. The cells were put in a test tube and grew faster than any other cell studied. Henrietta soon died and her family was left out of the loop on the amazement of Henrietta's cell. Now people from all over are wondering if it is ethical to send Lacks's cells all over the world without her family knowing. Because her family and Henrietta gave consent to the scientists to take and use samples of her tumor I believe it is ethical for people to study these cells.

George Gey is wanted for the theft of Henrietta Lacks’s cells. Gey is the head of tissue culture research at John Hopkins hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He and his wife, Margret, work together in their own lab at the hospital. He is tall and skinny with a stiff posture from having spinal fusions.

2a) Henrietta Lacks was the Afro-American who died from cancer and became an involuntary source of biomaterial based on which the line of the ‘immortal’ HeLa cells, widely used in scientific purposes, was created.

What if a philanthropist made a contribution to the nation by donating money for the construction of a renowned hospital, but his or her child cannot go to that hospital? What if the parent’s cells changed science, which led to cures and other developments, but his or her child cannot even afford to have health insurance? The question of whether or not the Lacks should be compensated raises the fundamental question of ethics: as seen in Skloot’s sympathetic portrayal of the family, does the argument of pathos constitute what is right or wrong? Both of the aforementioned situations may seem as if reparation is needed at first glance; however, a deeper insight into the situation provides a more realistic answer.

I do agree with you on provision one which states that the nurse should practice with compassion, respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and unique attributes of every person but unfortunately that was the case with Henrietta Lack. I also like the point you made on how frustrating our profession could be. I work in an acute psychiatric hospital where most of the population, we serve are very psychotic on admission. During this acute stage, staff has been threatened, verbally abused and assaulted on several occasions but we have learned to treat all patients with dignity and respect regardless of their present situation. One of the things that I observed working with this group of patient is to love and show compassion towards them knowing