First I would like to state that you both brought to light very important points! Kudo’s to you both as these topics are at the heart of society and its perception of medicine. I must begin by stating that I am so glad the medical community has progressed since the time of Henrietta Lacks. It is reassuring to know that much greater progress has been made in treating patients correctly and informing them of what is happening. I am saddened that due to social stigma at that time, Henrietta Lacks was not afforded the same respect that perhaps another individual would have been given. However, even with progression in the medical community, the question of research and the goals of it are still rocky. I submit that society often feels that medical researchers are often simply out to have a claim to fame or acquire significant money. Many individuals feel more like a test subject rather than a human being that can help benefit others. This stigma plagues the decisions of many patients in medical situations. Therefore, there is a drastic account of mistrust in the medical community from an individual in society. Kristin, you supported this by noting how Skloot (2010) showed evidence that patient’s care less about financial gain from use of their tissue, as they are concerned more with the manner their tissue is used. I …show more content…
To them, their tissue is part of them. It is extension of their person. They do not know what it is being subjected to or what atrocities might be discovered using their tissue. I know personally, I would be deeply upset if I discovered that my tissue was used in discovering a way that would significantly harm others. The researcher may feel that this harmful discovery is acceptable as it was in the pursuit of knowledge. However, that was not my pursuit in donating tissue and had I known this, I would have rejected
Henrietta Lacks died never knowing the impact her life would have on the world of medicine. A poor, black woman living in Baltimore, Maryland in the 1950s, Henrietta was diagnosed with cervical cancer and died only nine short months after her diagnosis at the age of thirty-one. The mother of five children, Henrietta most likely died thinking her family would be her legacy. Little did she know her doctor at John Hopkins hospital, George Gey, had taken some of her cells before she died. With Henrietta’s cells, Dr. Gey was finally able to achieve a goal he had been working toward for decades – creating the first line of immortal cells (Freeman). These cells have been used for countless scientific research and have solidified Henrietta Lacks’ place
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a very powerful and moving book that should be read by all lay people, young and old, doctors, scientists and especially researchers in the medical field. They have an obligation to read this book so that history should not repeat itself. Anyone that wants to study DNA genes and cells should get written consent from the patients and their families. Rebecca Skloot, takes us on an extraordinary adventure about the life and death of the protagonist Henrietta Lacks; who was a southern “colored” person diagnosed with cervical cancer during her stay at John Hopkins Hospital during the 1950s. After a year of “Doctors examining her inside and out, pressing her stomach, inserting new catheters into her bladder…..needles
Twenty years passed before the Lacks’s family discovered that Henrietta Lacks had not truly died, but that her cells continued to live on in vitro.
To this day, the Lacks family has not been given their rightful compensation for the use of Henrietta's cells and she continues to be widely unknown. Because of Henrietta’s characteristics such as race, class, and education, she was treated as less of a human at John Hopkins. In conclusion, Henrietta Lacks tells the story of a black woman in the 1950s whose everlasting cells changed the course of history, but left her virtually unknown to the
Imagine having no rights in life. Imagine one day you get sick, and you go to the hospital to get better, but you get taken advantage of. How would all that make you feel? Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman. During her time, women didn’t have equal rights like men did, and African-Americans didn’t have equal rights like white people did. Since Henrietta was an African-American woman she had it rough, there were times that everyday tasks were a struggle. In 1951 she was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. She was treated at John Hopkins University, where doctors didn’t do all they could even if they said that was the case, and were Doctor George Gey took her cells from her cervix without consent. I watched the Law and Order episode titled “Immortal”, I found it to be extremely similar to a book I read titled The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot even though the show said in the beginning that this was not based on a true story.
In regard to the family of Henrietta Lacks suing John Hopkins Hospital, while I sympathize with their viewpoints and claims, I believe their lawsuit is misguided and will not stand in court. John Hopkins Hospital has a dark track record on handling African American patients no questions on that, but unfortunately prior cases with similar issues have resulted in failure. Many of these abuses occurred during the era of segregation and Jim Crow not only in the southern society but within the north as well. That being the situation, wouldn’t it be hypocritical on demanding justice from one establishment while letting the rest of society go? Additionally to that David Lacks had given consent to Dr. Gey and the hospital, no one forced him, and he
Both stories examine the complex connection between humanity and science. While "Prometheus" delves into the mythological character's bestowal of fire upon humans, representing progress in civilization, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" explores the moral dilemmas associated with utilizing Henrietta Lacks' cells in scientific investigations without her approval, raising concerns about the limits of medical advancements and individual rights. Prometheus: The Friend of Man and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks both deal with the responsibility of helping mankind with different technologies and different moral dilemmas. While both stories use different technologies, they were both meant to have a positive effect on the world. Prometheus
Henrietta Lacks: an unknown name up until recent years. A name that had been known to the world only as HeLa; The first two letters of a name that belonged to a poor African American tobacco farmer that unknowingly changed science and life as we know it today. Her life has finally been portrayed in a very intimate story that not only does her life some justice but also transcendentally brings to mind the philosophical issues concerning medical ethics both of the past, present, and the future. In a world of constantly evolving medical advancement, science is a pivotal force that propels ideas forward. Although most will agree that the knowledge and cures found are a positive aspect, there is also a necessary evil that is involved, including
This research paper is based on the findings from the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. What you will read and come to know is nonfiction. I wish I could put the pictures of what I have seen and read together here for you to perhaps get a better understanding. A story based on not Henrietta’s life being that of immortality, but rather cancer cells removed from her body without her knowledge. These were the first cancer cells to reproduce outside of her body. You will come to know about Henrietta, her cancer, her cells, and her immortal life. Perhaps we can all learn to appreciate life in greater means of appreciation after reading and knowing the life and immortal afterlife of Henrietta Lacks. You will learn about a woman, who like us, had a family, and ended up not being able to truly live life to its fullest. Making us all realize just how cancer is and the amazing research that came from being able to reproduce her cells. Not just for cancer but for various other illnesses that plague so many of us. My hope is that you take away from this a better understanding of a time we do not know, for the ups and downs of science and the possibility of immortal life.
In 1951 there was a young black lady who was named Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta Lacks was a tobacco farmer in Clover, Virginia. Her mother died giving birth and her father moved the family to Clover, where the children were distributed among some of the close relatives. In January of 1951 she went to John Hopkins hospital, which was the only place close to her that treated black patients at the time. Lacks described a “knot” in her stomach that ended up being cervical cancer. During her treatments two samples from her
Henrietta Lacks was a “mother of five who died of cervical cancer at only thirty-one years of age” (Gabbay). When she passed away the doctors at John Hopkins asked her husband,
“I think people are morally obligated to allow their bits and pieces to be used to advance knowledge to help others” (Korn). Different people have opposing opinions on the topic of whether or not patients or doctors own the body tissues after it’s been removed from the patient. Ownership is the act, state, or right of possessing something. Tissue ownership is different from ownership because once it leaves your body, you no longer own it. Contributing your tissues to the science world is superior because you can speed up medical advances, avoid litigation, and become a better individual by contributing to science and society.
The non-fiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, details the happenings and life of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman and tobacco farmer who became a medical miracle in the 1950’s. The book is written in an attempt to chronicle both the experiences and tribulations of Henrietta Lacks and her family, as well as the events that led to, and resulted from, research done on Henrietta Lacks’ cells. Henrietta was a very average African American woman in this period; she had only a seventh-grade level education, and followed traditional racial and gender roles by spending her time has a mother and caretaker, as well as working on farms throughout her life until the involvement of the US in World War II brought her and her husband, “Day” Lacks, comparatively better work opportunities in industrial steel mills. However, after her death in 1951 Henrietta became much more than average to doctors at John Hopkins when the discovered that cells extracted from her cancerous tissue continued to live and grow much longer than any other tissue samples. Further investigation and isolation of these thriving cells led to the creation of the first ever immortal human cell line in medical history. The incredible progress in medicine made possible by Henrietta Lack’s tissue cells were not without downfalls, though. The treatments and experiences received by Henrietta and the effects it had on her and her family demonstrate both racial and gender
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
The impact of any solution to the Lacks situation could be far-reaching. Stakeholders in any identified solutions include the dignity and memory of Henrietta Lacks’ herself, her family and descendents, the community in which she lived, medical researchers, medical practitioners, medical institutions and organisations, pharmaceutical companies and the financial world, governments and the