theimmortallifeofhenriettalacks:亨麗埃塔的不朽生命缺乏

2024年2月13日發(作者：有關項羽的成語)

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Imani Smoot

Professor Anthony McGurrin

English 100-05

15 December 2012

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Compensation for a Well Derved Family

Henrietta Lacks was a poor African-American woman originating from a small town in

Virginia who later relocated to Baltimore City with her family in hopes of starting a better life.

Shortly after giving birth to her fifth child however, Henrietta Lacks was diagnod with an

inoperable form of cervical cancer. The cancer in her body spread at an extremely fast rate and in

just a few months Henrietta Lacks had pasd away due to complications from her illness. Before

and after her death however, tissue samples from Mrs. Lacks’ tumors had been extracted and

cultured for testing. While most cell cultures grown during this time died fairly quickly,

Henrietta’s cells managed to remain alive and grow for decades after her death.

In the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the author, Rebecca Skloot, tells the story of

Henrietta Lacks and her family as she journeys to gather information about the person behind

one of science’s greatest discoveries, known as HeLa cells to the world. This book also sheds

light on some of the ethical issues prented by medical practices of Henrietta’s time. The

sample of cells which had been taken from Henrietta Lacks went on to be ud in a number of

medical advances including cloning, gene mapping, the development of vaccines, and more.

HeLa cells are now considered a staple in scientific testing. The problem however is that the

cells were taken without connt.

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Neither Henrietta nor any of her family members were initially aware that her cells had been

taken and ud for testing let alone were such an important contribution to the scientific

community. It was not until many years later that they discovered this. It was also discovered

that a profit was being made off of the HeLa cells as they were being sold in mass quantities to

scientists all over the world. Ironically however, while the cells were being ud to make great

medical strides and producing a significant amount of revenue, Henrietta Lacks’ family remained

in poverty with a number of members suffering from a variety of medical issues and unable to

afford proper healthcare.

Considering the circumstances that surround this ordeal, it is only reasonable to suggest that

Henrietta Lacks’ immediate family should be compensated in some way, whether it is through

monetary gain or extensive healthcare benefits, for their loved one’s major contribution.

Particularly, the family should be compensated for the simple fact the doctor who was working

with Henrietta during her illness, never obtained her permission to u her cells for testing.

Today this would be considered a violation of informed connt which is one of the

fundamental elements related to human rearch. Informed connt is described as being an

informed decision made by an individual to participate in a study. In order for connt to be truly

considered informed however, permission must be freely given by individuals who have a clear

understanding of what participation in the procedure will involve (“Informed Connt for

Rearch Subjects”).

It is argued by some that doctors obtained permission from Henrietta’s husband to extract

samples after her death so therefore no wrong was committed. However, cells had already been

taken from Henrietta and examined while she was still alive without any discussion with her or

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

her family. Also, when permission was given by her husband afterwards, it was done so under

fal pretens. Lacks’ husband was made to believe that doctors wanted to conduct a simple

autopsy to gather information that may possibly help his children one day. He was not aware that

his wife’s cells would be taken and cultured to be ud in various studies. Therefore, Henrietta

Lacks’ family never gave informed connt for the u of her cells and doctors acted unethically

in their intentional misleading of her husband to gain permission.

It is also commonly argued that during this time there were no solid laws pertaining to the idea

of informing patients about the u of extracted bodily materials and gaining their permission

before doing so. However, while there might not have been any formal laws regarding this issue,

it was still common ethical knowledge for doctors to do so. This is evidenced by the fact that

doctors coerced Henrietta’s husband into signing over connt after her death. If professionals

felt it was necessary to obtain connt despite the lack of legal obligation then they should have

thoroughly followed through with this practice and should be held accountable for not doing this.

Also, even though the legality of informed connt from that time period can be debated, it is

clearly considered to be a legal issue today. In this ca, the best way to resolve this issue would

be through the u of reparations. According to The Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right

to a Remedy and Reparation, victims who can claim reparations include tho who have suffered

individual or collective harm in the past. The guidelines also state that the immediate family or

dependents of the direct victim can also take claim as well (“What is Reparation”). Therefore,

some type of reparations should be made to Mrs. Lacks’ surviving family members for the

inexcusable actions of the hospital that treated their mother.

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Overall, HeLa cells have become an important part of the scientific community. However, they

would not have been made available without the woman behind the cells, Henrietta Lacks. The

Lacks family has suffered a great injustice on behalf of the medical community with the robbing

of Henrietta’s cells many years ago and they continue to battle hardships to this day. It is only

morally right that this family be compensated for the ethical mistake that should never have

taken place. HeLa has given so much to the medical world and now it is time for that world to

give back, with gratitude, to the family of Henrietta Lacks.

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Bibliography

NA. “Informed Connt of Rearch Subjects”. Partners Human Rearch Committee. 2012.

Web. 15 Dec. 2012

NA. “What is Reparation?”. Redress. 2012. Web. 15 Dec. 2012

Skloot, Rebecca, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2010.

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