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Henrietta Lacks Ethics

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Jasmine Poole The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is about a women who has cervical cancer that went to the doctor to get better. But instead of just getting better, the doctors took a sample of the cancer cells. The doctor used her cells to help other people with the same cancer get better. In this case, Henrietta and her family didn’t know that her cells were being sold all around the world to reporters/doctors. There were many ethical issue and ethical theories that took place as well. After reading this story, I noticed many ethical issues that were brought up. The first issue is informed consent. Henrietta and her family did not give consent to take her cells and sell them. They never signed any forms or verbally explained …show more content…

The first ethical theory is Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is based on actions that show right from wrong. In the story the Utilitarianism, is choosing which would benefit the most to the most people. This theory would conclude that it was the best choice to take Henrietta Lack’s cells and distribute them all over like they did in the story. The utilitarianism would benefit much more on the decision that the doctor made then a negative decision, which is based on consequences. A Utilitarianism is looking for the benefits which was obvious that a lot of people were greatly affected by the cells in a good way for researchers to do multiple experiments and make money off of it. The second ethical theory I found in the story was the Deontology. Deontology is based on rules. In the story, deontology is shown by the rules of informed consent and justice. Henrietta did not give any form of consent, verbally or in a written form. Which is the process to use any part of someone’s body. Even though it was something that help a lot of people it was done unethical. In conclusion to the ethical theories, the Utilitarianism and deontology is on two different sides of the fence. While one is applauding the doctor and believe that it is ethical, the other believes following the rules and believes that it is unethical. Based on the story and the time frame, this experiment was ethical and the right thing to

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In the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, the author demonstrates the harsh realities that many African Americans faced in the medical and scientific field during the mid 20th century. The author shows the unjust practices of this time period through interviews with the Lacks family and medical professionals. These harsh realities are proven when Skloot talks to Henrietta’s family. Henrietta’s husband, Day, explains how they took samples from Henrietta’s body without consent when Skloot writes, “Day clenched his remaining three teeth. "I didn't sign no papers," he said.

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Henrietta Lacks, an African American tobacco farmer from southern Virginia, was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 30 years old. During her treatment at John Hopkins Hospital, one of the doctors took a piece of her tumor without her knowledge or consent and sent it to scientists who had been unsuccessfully attempting to grow tissues in culture for decades. There is no explanation as to why, but her cells never died. To this day they are still alive and have been used throughout the years to great advantages in curing diseases. Henrietta’s cells have played a part in some of the world’s most important medical advances such as the development of the polio vaccine, cloning, vitro fertilization, gene mapping, and they even went up in the first space

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What are the specific issues raised in the book—legally and ethically? Think about the 1980s John Moore case: the appeal court decision and its reversal by the California Supreme Court.   Issues that raised in the book are race issues, the legality of taking adventage of patients who’s family aren’t able to fight for the rights and benefit of their cells. According to California supreme court, Under the duty to obtain informed consent, “a doctor must disclose his intent in using a patient for research and economic gain.” 6.

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Is it right for one's life to be manipulated for the use of scientific research or is it just a evasion on the person's privacy. Henrietta Lacks was a African American with cells that intrigued many people, she was diagnosed with cancer leaving her to be cared for at her local hospital, where she would later die due to the extremity of the illness. While at the hospital she was unaware that the doctors there were experimenting on her taking cell samples from her body, to help find a resolution to multiple diseases. The people who examined Henrietta manipulated her and the rest of her family to gain information on her cellular structure to be ahead of others looking to achieve the same objective. Henrietta Lacks cells should have never been evaluated because it's an evasion of her freedom, a danger to her personal health, and cause conflicts.

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