ipl-logo

The Secret Life Of Henrietta Reflection

1460 Words6 Pages

Reflection 1
The Secret Life of Henrietta really reflects more than just advancement in the medical society, but also by how societal expectations and norms have changed over a period of time. Henrietta’s cells were taken without her permission’’’ and this wasn’t an uncommon practice during that time. The reason this wasn’t an uncommon practice can be contributed to factors such as race, class, gender, and the actual view of medicinal research at the time. The first factor can be discussed is the idea of being a colored individual. In many medical facilities there was segregation between the white individuals and the colored folk “The public wards at Hopkins…only major hospital for miles that treated black patients” (Skloot, 2010). The …show more content…

The idea of needing informed consent is really a basic idea when it comes to the ethics behind donating, but the idea that’s really surprising is that “…the Common Rule doesn’t actually govern most tissue research” (Skloot, 2010).This is surprising because the rule is supposed to be there and be enforced and since it is not enforced many people may have their rights violated. The other ideas of the HIPPA regulations and other consent precautions may help to deter the violation of rights; however there are still many issues that are widely disputed such as the family changing their mind after their loved one has past and whether or not that’s admissible. The other idea of money is also very prevalent issue because the commercialization off of donated materials can be considered unethical. If you look at patients who decide to donate their body to science they looked to make medical advancements possible. A profit made off donated tissue can in a sense be compared to companies earning a profit over the goods that are donated. Charity always has its costs especially because in this instance you would have to fund both the doctors and the research which in turn costs

Show More
Related
420 Words | 2 Pages

Henrietta Lacks, a black woman living during the first half of the twentieth century, died of complications due to cervical cancer and had her cells stolen from her by the people she originally entrusted to protect her. Her cells have allowed dozens of groundbreaking medical discoveries to take place. Despite the discoveries, her family lives in utter destitution, and her name has been forgotten by all but the most dedicated followers of her story. Rebecca Skloot’s book attempts to correct this injustice, giving life to the woman many simply know as HeLa. Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks hammers the point home by using Pathos to highlight the injustices against the Lacks clan, using Logos to highlight the breaches of medical ethics

Read More
624 Words | 3 Pages

Part two of, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, once again submerges the reader in to the world of HeLa cells. This section emphasizes what occurred with Henrietta’s immortal cells after her death. Along with the many medical discoveries made from these miracle cells, part two delves into the physical and emotional abuse that Henrietta’s children were forced to live with after her passing all while struggling financially while their mother’s cells are being sold for millions of dollars. Skloot continues her phenomenal synopsis of the life of Henrietta Lacks and the stories her cells continue to tell. One of the utmost riveting and critical scenes of this section occurs in the first few pages.

Read More
700 Words | 3 Pages

   Should patient consent be required to store and distribute their tissue for research? Should doctors disclose their financial interests? Would this make any difference in achieving fairness? Or is this not a matter of fairness or an ethical issue to begin with?

Read More
903 Words | 4 Pages

The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot and examines the life of Henrietta Lacks and her peculiar situation with her mysterious cells. This paper will focus on chapter two in the novel and how it becomes the most important part of the book when it comes to understanding Henrietta’s life story. Chapter two is called “Clover (1920-1942)”, the chapter itself dissects the early life of Henrietta and the challenges she had growing up. In this chapter, it goes over the gender, economic, and racial obstacles that greatly impacted her. It is important to understand the socio-economic conditions that led Henrietta to be treated less than human.

Read More
295 Words | 2 Pages

While the general terrain covered by Skloot has already been charted (by Washington and other journalists), the signal accomplishment of The Immortal Life is its excavation of hospital and medical records on Henrietta Lacks and its exhaustive interviews with her surviving family members. Skloot braids that compelling stream into a fluid accounting of the nascent history of cell research in America, creating in the end a riveting narrative that is wholly original. In short, we learn the stunning news that in 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a poor, undereducated 31-year-old black woman from a small Virginia outpost, unwittingly “donated” cancerous cells that eventually spawned a molecular cottage industry—and aided hundreds of breakthroughs in scientific

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

Her doctor collected cancerous cells and healthy cells from her cervix and gave them to the cancer researcher, George Otto Gey, who was trying to keep cells alive for more than a couple days. Henrietta endured intense radium treatments, but she still died at the age of 31, leaving her husband and five children behind. An amazing discovery was made Henrietta’s cell were immortal. Racism is prevalent in this book through the limited availability of healthcare, unethical behaviors of the doctors, and how racism affected her family. During this time, there was an extensive lack of medical care for colored people.

Read More
989 Words | 4 Pages

Bushra Pirzada Professor Swann Engh-302 October 4th 2015 Rhetorical Analysis: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot tells the story of a woman named Henrietta Lacks who has her cervical cancer. It further goes to tell the audience how Henrietta altered medicine unknowingly. Henrietta Lacks was initially diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951; however, the doctors at John Hopkins took sample tissues from her cervix without her permission. The sample tissues taken from Henrietta’s cervix were used to conduct scientific research as well as to develop vaccines in the suture.

Read More
890 Words | 4 Pages

Racism in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks “Excuse me, ma’am/sir, can I interest you in a product?” Every time I visit the mall, the sales people at the kiosk always bother me, in hopes that they can sell me their product. I, personally, ignore these people and continue on with my day, but once I observed a man become persuaded into buying a summer home in Florida because of the “amazing offer” the sales kiosk worker offered him. Therefore, people can persuade others into doing things they would not normally do using the same techniques authors use to try and persuade their readers to believe their point of view on a topic. In the 21st century non-fiction biography, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, American author, Rebecca Skloot

Read More
440 Words | 2 Pages

Rebecca Skloot develops the idea that poverty comes with many difficult situations, in the book, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks". True, Henrietta and her family were poor, could barely afford their medical bills, and they didn 't get the extended care that they deserved. You will learn how being poor can change your life and what is done with it . In the book, Henrietta 's daughter, Deborah, has many medical problems and she has to spend all her money on not even all her medicine.

Read More
919 Words | 4 Pages

An essential part of modern society relied on trust, especially the trust of doctors and scientists. People had the right to make an informed decision about their bodies and body parts. People had a right to their body parts, both attached and cell samples collected by doctors. The actions that the medical professions made will continue to affect future generations in both positive and negative ways. In the contemporary biographical novel, the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot used logical opinions to argue about the importance of consent to reveal the lack of morality from those in the medical field which continues to persist today.

Read More
829 Words | 4 Pages

Racism in the Medical Field Racism has existed in the medical field for over 2,500 years. Where people of certain races, religions, and genders are all discriminated against by the people in this world who are supposed to help them. Doctors take an oath to treat all patients with equity, yet still some patients are prone to bigoted racism. However it goes the other way as well, even doctors experience racial prejudice by patients and their families.

Read More
1072 Words | 5 Pages

However, donation involves asking ethical questions because the treatment affects not only the people in need of transplants but also the individuals who donate. The main reason why people may consider donating organs is because of the very great benefit that this can bring to others. On the other hand, some find the idea of organ donation too invasive. Those people believe that it is wrong to take organs from people. The decision to or not to donate is a moral decision.

Read More
915 Words | 4 Pages

If you are a doctor, you have to look out for the best interest of all your patients. If you are a seller, you might really need the money or benefits to help your family. These are all points of view that need to be accounted for when discussing organ selling. After studying this issue, I believe that Americans should have the legal right to not just donate, but to sell their organs if they please to do so. I will point out three arguments to support my answer with reasoning.

Read More

More about The Secret Life Of Henrietta Reflection

Related Topics

Open Document