The Case, The Hela Case Has Raised Questions About The Legality Of Using Genetic Materials Without Permission

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is the story of Hela cells and the women and family behind them. HeLa cells are the cells that have helped scientists all around the world discover cures and vaccines that have saved thousands of lives. But before they did all those things, they were inside a woman, named Henrietta Lacks, and were taken from her without her knowledge. Her family would not know about her cells until years after her death and millions of dollars in revenue gained from the HeLa cells. At the time doctors did what was considered common practice but did they cross a line? Or were the amazing scientific achievements enough to excuse the violation of personal privacy? Despite good intentions doctors should never have taken Henrietta’s cells without her consent, and furthermore her family deserves compensation for the work those cells have helped accomplish, and the sometimes horrible circumstances they have had to deal with because of the cells.

According to Rebecca Skloot, a science writer, Henrietta Lacks first discovered the cancer as a lump on her cervix in early 1950, and had come to John Hopkins Hospital on January 29, 1951 (Skloots 13). Howard Jones, the gynecologist on duty, noted that the lump was "shiny and purple...and so delicate that it bled at the slightest touch"(17). Jones later diagnosed Henrietta with "Epidermoid Carcinoma of the cervix, Stage 1"(27). As chemotherapy was not a medical advancement available at the time, one of the most advanced treatments

Loretta Pleasant now known as Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia. Her mother died in 1924 while giving birth to her tenth child and her father took her and the rest of the children back to Clover, Virginia. The children were split up to live with their relatives. Henrietta was sent to live with

The scientific community is culpable of viewing Henrietta Lacks as an abstraction rather than a human being in that they disregarded her right to privacy in extracting her cells

The main ethical issues in this case is that researches at Johns Hopkins Hospital used Henrietta’s cell in multiple researches and send her cells to other researchers around the world without her family’s consent. Moreover, the Lackes themselves were used in medical research without informed consent, and Henrietta’s medical records were release to journalists without her family knowing.

In the example with the HeLa cells, a great debate was raised when the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was published. The debate centered around the lack of information of where the cells came from, who should have known about the original harvesting, and the lack of compensation for Henrietta’s family once the cells started generating income. Also discussed was the tendency of the medical community to

Henrietta Lacks was born as Loretta Pleasant. At some point in time, she changed her name to Henrietta. After her mother died in 1924, she was sent to live with her grandfather in a log cabin, that had been the slave head quarters of a white ancestor’s plantation. Henrietta shared a room with her first cousin. When she was 14, they had a boy named Lawrence and a girl name Elsie. In 1941,

Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia. Henrietta’s mother passed away in 1924. She was sent to live with her grandfather. Henrietta shared a room with her first cousin David. They had their first son, Lawrence in 1935 when she was fourteen. Then they had their first daughter in 1939, Elsie, who was disabled. Henrietta and David then moved to Maryland and had three more children, David Jr., Deborah, and Joseph.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta Lacks. In the early 1951 Henrietta discovered a hard lump on the left of the entrance of her cervix, after having unexpected vaginal bleeding. She visited the Johns Hopkins hospital in East Baltimore, which was the only hospital in their area where black patients were treated. The gynecologist, Howard Jones, indeed discovers a tumor on her cervix, which he takes a biopsy off to sent it to the lab for diagnosis. In February 1951 Henrietta was called by Dr. Jones to tell about the biopsy results: “Epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix, Stage I”, in other words, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Before her first radium treatment, surgeon dr.

Henrietta Lacks was born in Roanoke Virginia on August 1, 1920. She was a young black women who would end up making the biggest contribution to science in humanity. Henrietta began to feel something in her stomach that made her very uncomfortable and often stated she could feel a lump. Lacks decided to take a visit to John Hopkins hospital in January of 1951, and this would change her life forever. John Hopkins hospital was the only nearby hospital for miles that would assist those of the negro descent.

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 black woman that grew up in the rural segregated south; her lifespan was from 1921 to1951. She grew up on her grandfather Lacks tobacco farm after her mother died giving birth to her tenth child. From the time she was four years old, she picked, cleaned, and harvested tobacco leaves, spending little or no time in school; she had at most a 6th grade education. By the time she was fourteen, Henrietta had given birth

Henrietta Lacks was an African American women that was born Loretta Pleasant on August 1, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia. Henrietta Lacks was born unto Eliza and Johnny Pleasant. At some point in time she changed her name from Loretta to Henrietta but her family is uncertain into how. Her mother died while giving birth to her tenth child in 1924. After the passing of his late wife, Henrietta’s father felt unable to handle the children, so he took them all to Clover, Virginia. In Clover, Virginia is where her father gave the children to relatives. At the age of 4, Henrietta was sent to live with her grandfather, Tommy Lacks, in a log cabin. This log cabin that she was sent to live in with her grandfather had been the slave quarters of a white ancestor’s plantation. At this time Henrietta Lacks shared a room with her 9 year-old first cousin, David Lacks.

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,

Before discussion of the ethical, legal and social issues can be successful, some background information is needed. For example, why is the goal of mapping the human genome important? Who is going to benefit or at least be affected by this new