Harm And Side Effects Of Henrietta Lacks

In modern society, most depend on the opinion of a trained healthcare professional to ensure a solution to an issue. But what does one do when the patient has no understanding of the potential harm and side effects caused? Henrietta Lacks, a black woman of low social status, faced the trials of cervical cancer without providing informed consent, or the “legal rules that prescribe behaviors for physicians and other healthcare professionals.” If Lacks had not been a crusader in informed consent, then the legacy of patient awareness would not exist today. Lacks’ story takes place in Baltimore, Maryland when she checks into Johns Hopkins Hospital, to address a pain in her lower abdomen. George Otto Gey, a cancer researcher who devotes his

They describe Henrietta as a generous, hard-working woman who is very meticulous about her physical appearance and red painted nails. These unique admirations of Henrietta’s life are ignored once she becomes a test subject. Her pain refuses to cease but doctors denote her pain until she suffers from a stomach crowded with tumors. Hey decides to repeat her radiation treatments and steal more cells which died immediately due to her body’s toxins. Gey informs Henrietta that her cells will make her immortal but she is only glad something positive comes from her suffering, ending the night of October 4, 1951. Gey still wants Henrietta’s cells regardless of her passing. During her autopsy, his assistant Mary almost collapses at the sight of Henrietta’s nail polish, realizing that Henrietta had emotions and experiences rather than just another test

Jonas Salk test his polio vaccine. HeLa cells influence scientists to invent the process of freezing cells to be shipped worldwide. Henrietta’s cells introduced first steps toward cell cloning. In 1953, chromosomes are viewed clearly for the first time, leading to the discovery of a human’s 46 chromosomes. People began to wonder of whom those famous cells had originated. The media shared her story, but mistakenly as the name of “Helen L.” Skloot mentions that Gey allows the mistake to distract from the Henrietta’s true identity, raising suspicion that Get has something to hide. The question if HeLa cells could infect experimenters is raised by Chester Southam. By injecting prisoners from the Ohio State Penitentiary system, Southam discovers that a healthy immune system can fight cancer. However, his tests infect hundreds without their consent or knowledge introducing the significance of informed consent. The Number code was introduced and “written in response to Nazi war crimes, and stated that informed consent for research is absolutely essential.” However, The U.S. did not adopt the code because no one wanted to prevent scientific