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Why Is The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Ethically Wrong

583 Words3 Pages

In the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks there were many actions/choices that are debatable in whether or not they were ethically wrong or right. One topic that stands out in the book is the fact that the doctors took Henrietta’s cells without “official” consent. Three reasons why I believe this was wrong is because they did not correctly inform Henrietta about her treatments, this exploited her and her family which was immoral and unjustified, and because a bigger, long term problem was made.I stand by my argument because I felt it was wrong how a couple of doctors took cells and caused unnecessary problems for the Lacks family. I have sympathy toward the family because one fault that one person did should not have made these people this stressed, angry, and upset. My argument may be opposed in view of the fact that the doctors did give …show more content…

Looking on page 31 it shows what was written on the consent form; it states “ I hereby give consent to the staff of The Johns Hopkins Hospital to perform any operative procedures and any anaesthetic either local or general that they may deem necessary in the proper surgical care and treatment...”. Building off this point one of her doctors TeLinde, who operated on her took samples of tissue without asking if she would like to be a donor and sent them to another facility. This did not have any beneficial effect to her treatment or wellness which means that it shouldn’t have been done without her knowing . The hospital also did not inform Henrietta that after her treatments she would not be able to have children; which they “claimed” they did. Not only did the doctors take something of Henrietta’s without asking they didn't tell her the risks or repercussions of the treatment. In a hospital it should be someone’s main priority to make sure the patient knows what's happening to his or her

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The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot

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Introduction In this book, author Rebecca Skloot sets out to give a biography of the late Henrietta Lacks. She had first heard of Henrietta Lacks in her freshman biology class at 16 years old. After only learning her name and skin color, Skloot became very much curious. Twenty-two years later, all her research was published as The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

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The Case of Henrietta Lacks In January of 1951, a 30 year old African American, married mother of five visited Johns Hopkins Hospital for vaginal bleeding, her name was Henrietta Lacks. At the time, Johns Hopkins was the only hospital in the area that would treat African American patients. During a pelvic examination, Dr. Howard W. Jones performed a biopsy of a mass located on Mrs. Lacks' cervix. Laboratory test results came back positive for terminal cervical cancer and Mrs. Lacks began treatment.

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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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After reading this case I was terribly shocked about the fact that something like this could happen in our medical history. I couldn’t believe how a patient could be neglected so much. Based on the material that we have learned the lack of ethical theory of deontology in Dr. Evan was disturbing. As a doctor Dr. Evan’s role is to care for patients, keep them away from harm and prolong their life. Though in the trial he stated as if he didn’t care.

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The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot

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Many times throughout history, morality and ethics have been compromised. People have always questioned the “unwritten laws” of what is deemed ethically correct and what isn’t. In the medical world, there was a discovery that allowed for many new accomplishments and unlocked the potential of modern-day medicine. In the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the author, Rebecca Skloot, explores the life of a very important woman in modern science. Her immortal cells revolutionized the medical field and led to the growth of a multimillion-dollar industry.

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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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The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot

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Henrietta Lacks, the “Patient” HeLa cells made history beyond polio vaccines and outer space experiments. In Rebecca Skloot’s bestseller, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” HeLa cells went beyond just the successful research, cures, and treatments - they told the story of the Lacks family, and the unethical behaviors in the medical field of the 1950s. Henrietta Lacks was treated as a research subject, rather than just as a patient. Her physicians unethically withheld information relating to informed consent, and uses of her biospecimen, while sharing her private information. They ignored her rights of voluntary choice, disrespected her confidentiality, and lacked communication with both her, and her family, discriminating against her race.

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You’re just making it worst. It thought that they didn't know what they were doing or using while doing surgery on henrietta. I think that the hospital did not have have the right to take Henrietta's cells or tissues, because it did not gave them a right to take her tissues. It only have them the right to do surgery on her. I feel like Henrietta did know what she was signing, because she was educated but since in the contract it didn't say anything about using her cells for research, I feel like she didn't know what she was signing.

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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.

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Moral code and medical ethics are an essential theme throughout “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” especially concerning the distinction between the right and wrong decisions that were made during the period after Henrietta’s death. Many of the journalists, and some of the doctors and medical researchers lacked the moral code to let Henrietta and her family know of their findings of the HeLa cell, which lead to significantly changing the code of ethics in medicine. Since Henrietta was dead, many researchers and doctors were unaware they were still breaking her confidentiality, and the Lacks family’s confidentiality also becomes an afterthought. Rebecca Skloot says, “It wasn’t illegal for a journalist to publish medical information given

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The first direct violation of ethical principles with Lacks was the breach of autonomy. During her treatment at Johns Hopkins hospital in 1951, she had been informed her diagnosis was indeed cancer. Her

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573 Words | 3 Pages

If Henrietta’s was a white, educated, rich women from an affluent neighborhood. I do not believe the outcome would have been different. I do not think race, gender or social economic status, or the fact that she died in a segregated hospital, played a major role in the outcome of his ethical dilemma. I hypothesize that when Dr. Richard TeLinde, head of gynecology and Dr. George Gey, head of tissue culture, found out that Henrietta’s cells were immortal they were so intrigued, it is as if they had hit the scientific discovery of a lifetime jackpot. The fact that her cells kept reproducing at the rate that it did, I think they were amazed and fascinated by it.

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The moral dilemma of the novel is the fact that “no one had told Henrietta that TeLinde was collecting samples” (Skloot 33). In addition, the cells were used, sold, and developed without the consent of Henrietta or informed consent of any family members. These cells, which were illegally obtained and the doctors “were sure Henrietta’s cells would die just like all the others,” that was not the case (Skloot 33). After her death, Henrietta’s cells “kept growing like nothing anyone had seen, doubling their numbers every twenty-four hours” and were coined as immortal (Skloot 40). The title might appear misleading because Henrietta is not immortal, her cells are.

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