ipl-logo

Impact Of Henrietta Lacks On Medical Research Then And Now

1291 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks’ Impact on Medical Research Then and Now

What happens to the sample just taken out of your body that is now being sent to pathology? Is it just tested for one disease and tossed away in biomedical waste, or is it tested and taken somewhere else to be studied for further research? Do we get a say in how we want our tissues used? Henrietta Lacks is just one answer to these questions on why we now have stricter consent forms for various medical procedures. Through her cells we see the impact it created in medical research and understand ethical issues that arose from this experience. I, as many others in the world, strive for an answer on how to stop cancer from occurring and curing it once and for all. 1951 in Baltimore, Henrietta Lacks was a beautiful 30-year-old mother of five children who went to the gynecologist because of spotting between monthly cycles. On examination a lesion was found on her cervix that was biopsied for pathology and found to be epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix, Stage I cancer. This was an interesting case because when Henrietta’s cancer cells were tested they weren’t like other cancer cells; they were aggressive and grew very rapidly. Her tissue was then kept for …show more content…

Atlanta repaid the Lacks family by giving each child an award for their mother’s contributions to the medical field through the discovery of the Polio vaccine, and the many advances it has on cancer research, and the honor that in Atlanta on October 11th it is referred to as Henrietta Lacks day. I also believe a fair remuneration for the family would be free health insurance for each of Henrietta’s children and her husband. This is fair because they are fully insured medically for anything that could happen to her children and the fact that there could still have research be pursued legally from now

Show More
Related
613 Words | 3 Pages

Would people in 1951 feel any different if they knew black people could produce lifesaving cures with technology? Henrietta Lacks was a black woman that got cervical cancer and went to Hopkins hospital because it was the closest segregated hospital around. While Henrietta was as Hopkins, they were doing tests and during that process, Dr. Gey took Henrietta’s cells without her consent. Henrietta was diagnosed with Cervical cancer doctors took samples without her consent. She had five kids and died at Hopkins hospital on October 4, 1951 being only 31 years old.

Read More
1253 Words | 6 Pages

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Doctors took her cells without consent and launched a multi-million dollar industry. Her name was Henrietta Lacks, a poor wife, mother, and farmer. Lack cells opened the door for many new advances in medicine. These advances include: the polio vaccine and nuclear testing. These cells have helped us to understand cancer, HIV/AIDS, and cells in general.

Read More
717 Words | 3 Pages

Immortal cells from a woman who never even knew they’d been stolen from her. Henrietta Lacks would change the medical field without even knowing it. Henrietta had a family, a love life, and trials, before her unfortunate death. Henrietta was born on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke Virginia. She was born on the floor of a house that was known as the “The Home-House.”

Read More
1397 Words | 6 Pages

Her cell line is most commonly known as HeLa: He from the first two letters of Henrietta and La from the first two letters of Lacks. Despite this seeming positive outcome, Henrietta, specifically her family were not informed until 20 years after Henrietta's fatal cancer experience. Raising the inquiries: Was this ethical? Should the Lacks family be compensated for their mistreatment? Was the unconsented research on Henrietta lacks lawful?

Read More
1938 Words | 8 Pages

She resided in Clover until she was twenty-two years old, when she moved to Turner Station, Maryland with her husband David Lacks and her first two children David Jr. and Elsie. For the duration of Henrietta’s life, she and her family belonged to a lower middle class of working black Americans. In 1951 when Henrietta felt a lump in her lower abdomen she sought out the medical care of the charity hospital, Johns Hopkins. In a pre-civil rights movement America, where segregation and demeaning of black Americans was prevalent in society, the colored ward of Hopkins was both the only place that would treat her and the only treatment she could

Read More
700 Words | 3 Pages

Participation Portfolio 1 Asst 3: Henrietta Lacks Discussion Questions   Please answers each of the following questions, and be prepared to discuss in class   1. Please outline the history of Henrietta Lacks 's tissue cells. Who did what with the cells, when, where and for what purpose? Who benefited, scientifically, medically, and monetarily?

Read More
536 Words | 3 Pages

When we die, we never know what goes on in the world after that, because we are dead. We know that our family mourns our last, but we really don’t know anything else. Well, Henrietta Lacks was one of those people and I feel as if she should have known before she died what was going to go on after her death. Who is Henrietta Lacks?

Read More
211 Words | 1 Pages

Henrietta Lacks’s daughter Deborah once stated “If our mother cells done so much for medicine, how come her family can’t afford to see no doctors?” (Skloot 9). The lack of ethics also points to another theme of Henrietta’s story, discoveries are more than the discovery itself, there are always people behind them. Deborah’s words also emphasize the human side

Read More
239 Words | 1 Pages

Henrietta Lacks was a black tobacco farmer from the south who, in 1950, at the age of 30, she was diagnosed with aggressive cervical cancer. Lacks went to John’s Hopkins medical center for treatment for her cancer. In April of 1951, she underwent surgery to remove the larger tumor on her cervix. Henrietta Lacks, died three days following the surgery. Even though Henrietta Lacks died, her cells from the tumor have lived on and have made a major impact on the biomedical community.

Read More
867 Words | 4 Pages

Even Rebecca Skloot states in, “Your Cells, their Research, Your Permission?”, “Public response is overwhelmingly consistent and in line with several studies: the public supports the science and wants to help it move forward. But that support is dependent on consent and trust.”, which I think her words are saying that she supports the research for science and it moving forward but disagrees with consent being so bland and hidden because support is dependant on trust. However, we took one person’s life to help millions of others, if I could risk my life to help millions of others I would take the chance and be glad I did as I am sure Henrietta

Read More
249 Words | 1 Pages

Before I start my discussion, I would like to thank Henrietta Lacks for her cells even though they were taken without her consent and also thank the Lacks’ family for their patience in dealing with this issue of not being told about the use of the Henrietta’s cells. Neither Henrietta nor her family got recognition for them. This story tells us how far we have come in this day and age in terms of privacy information and what people can and cannot do because of HIPPA. It was common practice to use people’s information and cells without their consent.

Read More
663 Words | 3 Pages

Despite the wrongdoings Henrietta Lacks was put through her cells did a lot to help advance science. Her cells helped develop different types of vaccines, which such as her daughter faced. A lot of good and bad came out of Henrietta’s

Read More
1020 Words | 5 Pages

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta, an African-American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line. Told through the eyes of her daughter, Deborah Lacks, aided by journalist Rebecca Skloot. Deborah wanted to learn about her mother, and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever. It is a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty and deep friendship between the unlikeliest people. There had been many books published about Henrietta’s cells, but nothing about Henrietta’s personality, experiences, feeling, life style etc.

Read More
743 Words | 3 Pages

Racism in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Imagine your mother, sister, wife, or cousin was diagnosed with cervical cancer and you believed the doctors were doing everything in their power to help her. Only later you discovered her cells were used for research without consent and she was not properly informed of the risks of her treatment due to her race. This story happened and is told by Rebecca Skloot in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot use of narrative and her writing style enhances the understanding of the story. Henrietta Lacks was a young black woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital.

Read More
462 Words | 2 Pages

The final violation of ethical principles, in the story of Henrietta Lacks, was the violation of justice. Without the contribution of Henrietta’s cells, many discoveries and vaccines, such as the vaccine that conquered Polio, would not have made their pivotal breakthroughs in biomedical research. Her direct and unknowingly, supportive contribution helped save many people’s lives all over the world. Unfortunately, her named did not receive the recognition it deserved, and her family never received any compensation for profits made from direct use of her

Read More

More about Impact Of Henrietta Lacks On Medical Research Then And Now

Related Topics

Open Document