Informed Consent: The Henrietta Lacks Case

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The major issues with the concept of Informed Consent as it relates to the Henrietta Lacks case is did she or did she not give consent for her cells to be taken and used for research.
Some would argue that she did by seeking medical treatment and then agreeing to be treated by John Hopkins Research Hospital. Others would argue that the right questions weren’t asked or she may not have understood what was being said to her at the time of treatment for cancer. Another issue that has been debated is did class, race, and gender have a role in informed consent at the time of Henrietta’s case. The intersectionality of Henrietta being poor, black, and female, uneducated may have played a role in the taking of her cells and all that followed in her case. The topic of informed consent was barely being discussed when Henrietta was being treated for cancer. Today there are laws and regulations governing informed consent and there are still issues relating to how …show more content…
First, you have David Korn, vice provost for research at Harvard University that believes the consent issue is overshadowed by a public responsibility to science. David Korn states, “I think people are morally obligated to allow their bits and pieces to be used to advance knowledge to help others. Since everybody benefits, everybody can accept the small risks of having their tissue scraps used in research” (Skloot, 320-321). Opposing you have Lori Andrews, director of the institute for Science and Law and Technology at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Andrews states “Science is not the highest value in society” (Skloot, 321). She argues that autonomy and personal freedom are truly important. Her argument is about dying and where your money goes. The point is that when you die you chose who gets your money and it does not matter if it benefits the greater

The Henrietta Lacks Case

1. Based on your readings and review of the Henrietta Lacks materials describe the rights of subjects that need to be protected in research. Identify the ways in which violation of each of these rights occurred in the case of Henrietta Lacks. Informed consent is definitely one of the ethical issues in the Henrietta Lacks case. George Gey took Henrietta Lacks tissue samples and used them for research without her and her family consent. The tissue samples provided a quick way to test the effectiveness…

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Argument Against Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks was a beautiful woman of color that unfortunately lived a hard life. She grew up in a small town with her cousin named David that she eventually married later on. This woman did not have the privilege of having an education; therefore, when it came to reading important documents in a hospital setting or elsewhere, she was not able to properly understand what she was reading. In Henrietta’s case, when she went to the Johns Hopkins hospital due to medical emergencies, she was taken…

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Why Is Henrietta Lacks Unethical

Midterm Response to Question 1: Was it ethically acceptable for Henrietta Lacks’ cells to be taken? At what point and by whom was Henrietta Lacks or family wronged? The timeline is of outmost importance in framing a response to the question on the ethics of taking cells from patient Henrietta Lacks. The diagnosis of invasive cervical carcinomas for Henrietta in 1951 was prior to laws and regulations on “informed consent”. Henrietta had signed an “Operation Permit” at the time of her procedure…

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Summary: The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks is a common name in the field of science and it has influenced many lives yet no one seems to know her. However, the publication of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot in 2010 brings to light the impact of Henrietta’s life and death. Skloot is a famous science writer and author who specialize in medicine and science (Derse 51). Her bestselling book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks talks about a woman unintended contribution to the field of science. Henrietta…

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Summary: The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

the equation and that it is okay to just take advantage of them. Throughout the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, there are many times the Lacks family is seen as an abstraction in certain situations due to the color of their skin or how much money they have; however, there a some consequences for people who treat them that way. At the beginning of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a quote by Wiesel claims, “We must not see any person as an abstraction. Instead, we must see every person…

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Essay on Hela Cells

Taken Without Permission In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks individuals throughout the novel did not have jurisdiction over themselves in the scientific community. In the 1950’s, patients of a hospital approached doctors and staff as the authority and saw no reason to question their skills in the medical field. Because of their desire to obtain information for their research, the scientific community failed to consider the rights of their patients. Like many vaccines found in science, the human…

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Summary: The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot’s novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks illustrates the delicate balance of the innovative progression of science and society versus the consequences of those who stumble from this progress. This book centrally focuses on the Henrietta Lacks whose biological samples extracted during cancer treatment and in an autopsy after her subsequent death, with no consent at John Hopkins University Hospital that leads to their discovery of HeLa immortal cells. (“The Birth of HeLa Cells”…

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The Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Study

factors influence the decision on why racial and ethnic minorities deliberately refuse to be a part of research including experimentation, observation and different forms of study. However, the preceding aspect behind the majority of these cases, is an inherent lack of trust within the communities of minorities due to the historical mistreatment of minorities and unethical practices within the field of biomedical research. In nine-teen thirty-two, the…

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Why Is Henrietta Lacks Unethical

of Henrietta Lacks was able to unknowingly achieve this goal, and still remains living until this day. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman living from 1920 until 1951. Although her body died in 1951, her cells are still alive and thriving today. These cells were harvested from Henrietta’s cervix after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Research on Henrietta Lack’s cells laid the foundation for a wealth of extraordinary developments in the life science industry. Henrietta Lacks lived…

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Henrietta Lacks Ethics

beautiful our bodies really are. As for Henrietta Lacks, she lived a beautiful life, and had it stolen in a matter of seconds. The property rights over her biological matters caused by cervical cancer were vanished by one doctor in a blink of an eye. “HeLa” became more than a name; it was the test subject used to conduct scientific research all over the world. To explain the history of HeLa in further detail, Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, wrote her novel to investigate…

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