Social Contract In Nursing

Much medical advancement would not have been possible without cancer cells from Henrietta Lacks. While these HeLa cells are infamous in the medical community, the story behind them was barely known by any until Rebecca Skloot uncovered it.1 Information about Henrietta Lacks uncovers a history of consent not being asked for, and certainly not being given, but because of the cells, medical discoveries were made without her family’s knowledge.1 It brings to light the idea that while cells are a part of a person’s body, once they are out of the human body there is no more ownership. Without informed consent though, is it still owned by the person whose cells they are?

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.

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 died in 1951 of cervical cancer, leaving behind a husband, five children and some cells taken from her without her permission. These cells continue to revolutionize the scientific field today and have played an integral role in some of the most important advances in medicine: cloning, chemotherapy, gene mapping, the polio vaccine and in vitro fertilization. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks answers a lot of questions regarding the Lacks family, but also poses a number of questions regarding ethics, consent and how far society is willing to go to make medical advances.

Bringing Henrietta to Life: Creating Dialogue on Disparities across Disciplines Henrietta Lacks was a woman who made an eye-opening breakthrough in medicine in the early 1950s. Her cells were the first immortal cells to be discovered which paved the way for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in-vitro fertilization, and more. Unfortunately, there are two sides to every story. Although, modern medicine would not be where it is today without Hela cells, Henrietta’s family continued to struggle with her legacy because of the health disparities associated with ethics, race, and medicine. Henrietta’s cells were taken without her knowledge and used to cure various medical conditions.

The doctors were uncooperative with the Lacks family, the did not fully particularize the procedure that she underwent or the effect it would have on her. Furthermore, the healthcare professionals went drastically further in violations of her rights by taking a sample of her cancer without her permission numerous on numerous accounts. This is unacceptable practices conducted by the doctors. On the other hand, these cells became the groundwork for scientists to excel, luxuriating in breakthroughs achieved. The “Hela cells” contributed a variety of science fields from a vaccine for the polio virus, cloning, and gene mapping all comes through the use of her cells. Decades after her death the cells are still being used, her accomplishments in the field were relatively unknown till a student wrote this book. Henrietta Lacks never received the recognition for her helps in the achievement of the advancement of science, however, for a feat of this size one should receive glorification. For a student to have gone out of her way for someone they barely know, above all is unbelievably heart warming. This book shows us the unethical way that doctors practiced, but it turned out to better humanity, then left to examine this struggle to generate their own presupposition. The cells taken from her, furthermore, her family never received financial support. Consequently, this should not bother anyone at

In the book, “ The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by the author Rebecca Skloot, showed the story of an African American woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer, and her cells became the first immortal human cells. Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer in her early thirties, at Hopkins hospital, which was for families that could not afford for medical procedures and treatments. Doctors and experts at Hopkins did not take consent form Henrietta, when they took a sample of her diseased cells. Her cells later became known as HeLa cells, those cells changed the medicine industry and advanced treatments and procedures than ever before. However, her family never knew or told until many years later, people were making profit out

“Skloot traces the changing ethics and law around tissue collections, and the inadvertently careless journalists and researchers who violated the family’s privacy by publishing everything from Henrietta’s medical records to the family’s genetic information.” (Margonelli). Skloot thoroughly explains how these laws effected the Lacks family and how their case led to medical ethics and law changes. The authors main purpose for including this was to share the Lacks’ story and their experience with immoral medical ethics. Another main point explained throughout the book is medical science. With the discovery of HeLa cells science began to have a rapid rate of new discoveries and cures to other diseases. “The reason Henrietta’s cells were so precious was because they allowed scientists to perform experiments that would have been impossible to perform with a living human. They cut HeLa cells apart and exposed them to endless toxins, radiation, and infection.” (Skloot 58). Skloot explains that without Henrietta’s cells science would not have evolved to what it has become

In Rebecca Skloot’s pioneering non-fiction book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the complex story about the revolutionary HeLa cancer cells is told through the lives of the Lacks family and the multiple scientists and doctors that were part of one of the greatest breakthroughs of medical research in the twentieth century. The tale of the infamous and immortal HeLa cells was not just a scientific one, but one that involved struggle, confusion, ethical transgressions, and legal issues. Skloot writes about the life of Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cancer cells as well as her own research endeavor. Henrietta grew up with a very large family who all lived together and sometimes married internally. She eventually married and had kids with her first cousin, David. As an adult, Henrietta suffered from what she called a “knot” in her cervix, medically being cervical cancer. It all started when she started receiving cancer treatment from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. John Gey had used cells from the tumor for medical research. At the age of 31, Henrietta died from her fatal disease, leaving her cells behind to continue her legacy. Despite the fact that her cells were researched throughout the world, the Lacks family was still living in extreme poverty with little to no opportunities for advanced education. Johns Hopkins conveyed limited information about Henrietta’s cells to her family to the extent that some family members did not even understand what a cell

Developing the polio vaccine, cloning, genes mapping, in vitro fertilization, the testing of the atomic bomb –Henrietta Lacks’ cells have become one of the most important tools in medicine. Henrietta’s cells were sold by the billions yet her family could not even afford health insurance. In the scientific non-fiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, author Rebecca Skloot describes the racial inequality and the lack of rights African-Americans had during the 1950’s. She aims to bring light to the manipulation of the African Americans to the medical field’s advantage. In the style of a biography-memoir, Skloot describes the dark history of experimentation on African Americans and the laws and rights to protect the African Americans.

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital. Henrietta complained of a knot in her womb that caused her pain so she decided to visit the hospital in search of diagnosis. After being diagnosed with cervical cancer, the doctor recommended a biopsy be done on her cancerous tissue. Without any consent, Henrietta’s doctors took tissue samples from her cervix and attempted to grow them and keep them alive. These cells were known as HeLa cells, they began to grow at an unbelievable rate; The HeLa cell became vital for the development of vaccines and other scientific research. However because of Henrietta’s race and economic standpoint, Henrietta Lacks and the rest of the Lacks family was exploited by doctors. The exploitation of the family allowed the doctors and researchers to benefit scientifically and monetarily.

In February 2010, science writer and best seller author Rebecca Skloot published a book titled The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, in which she captured the life story of Henrietta Lacks and the start of her immortal life. Skloot describes the life, death, and aftermath that Henrietta had during her treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital, in the 1950s. For further research with Henrietta’s condition doctors needed to take tissue samples of her cervix. Unaware to Henrietta that this procedure was taking place without her consent. Skloot takes us on her journey as she tries to find the answers of Henrietta’s past and family. Beginning at Johns Hopkins Hospital, “colored ward” to the laboratories where researchers had freezers filled with HeLa cells, from Henrietta’s small hometown of Clover, Virginia to the East Baltimore, where her family and grandchildren strived and struggle with the issues of her cells (Skloots 34). Skloot tells a remarkable story of the creation of the HeLa cell while also highlighting the issue of bioethics and legal battles toward ownership of her cells.

this situation questionable is the fact that Henrietta Lacks still died from this cancer. She was not

The author Rebecca Skloot describes an old photograph of a beautiful, brave looking young woman - the woman is Henrietta Lacks, the main character of the book. A few months before she lost her battle to cervical cancer, a doctor extracted some of her cancer cells. Her cells went on to survive and multiply indefinitely in the laboratory environment, which were the first human cells to do such a thing. Her cells have led to much medical advancement. Skloot seeks to engage the reader's sympathy for Henrietta Lacks and her family by describing her experiences with racism, ignorance, and injustice prior to and after her death from cancer. The author constantly explores the issue of patient rights to the readers by analyzing these injustices.

In 1951, doctors took cell samples from an African American cancer patient named Henrietta Lacks without her knowledge or consent, and these cells became the first immortal cell line to be grown in a laboratory, leading to pivotal advancements in medicine, genetics, and cell culture. Rebecca Skloot tells the Lackses’ experiences with medical malpractice in her book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The bestseller has become widely known for its unwavering devotion to delivering the facts truthfully. Skloot’s honest portrayal of the story sheds light on unethical medical research and human experimentation in the mid to late twentieth century caused by scientists abusing the trust and privacy of their patients.