Limitations At its Finest The ability of having capacity plays an important role, especially in the medical industry, to determine if you are able to make decisions in every aspect of your life knowing that there will be consequences. A few years ago there was an African American woman whose cells were being taken and used for medical research without her consent. Rebecca Skloot who wrote, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” in 2010, talked about this issue in the novel. The issues being told in this novel still today are being debated. These debates consist of patient’s rights and what they are entitled to that specifically relates to them. It explains her life from the viewpoint of other people but mainly her daughter who deals with these …show more content…
But the pain didn’t go away until she went again and again and, “Henrietta told her doctors several times that she thought the cancer was spreading, that she could feel it moving through her, but they found nothing wrong with her.” (“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, Chapter 8, Page 62 by Rebecca Skloot). She had a feeling that something was wrong with her because she felt a lot of pain in her vaginal area and it was not normal. The doctors knew that something was wrong but refused to tell her. “This was a time when ‘benevolent deception’ was a common practice- doctors often withheld even the most fundamental information from their patients, sometimes not giving them any diagnosis at all. They believed it was best not to confuse or upset patients with frightening terms they might not understand, like cancer. Doctors knew best, and most patients didn’t question that… it was understood that black people didn’t question white people’s and their professional judgment.”(Chapter 8, Page 62 by Rebecca Skloot). This is a very important section in the book because it says a lot of black people not being informed of what is happening to them. Henrietta’s doctor lied to her saying she was fine, because they did not want to “scare” her. But in reality that was not the case, they did not tell her because they might have already known about her cells and have already been doing test from the beginning. This all seemed like a cover up to make it seem as if they looked for Henrietta best interest and that they cared, when they really did not because she was
The article The End of the Henrietta Lacks Sage? From the Smithsonian magazine was written by Rachel Nuwer in 2013. The Smithsonian is a magazine that provides an outlook on the major topics in history, science art, popular culture and innovation all in one. This certain article dealing with science is well written. Authors should use critical thinking when writing magazine articles, but some do not.
HeLa cells were taken from Henrietta unbeknownst to her by George Gey, a cell biologist at Johns Hopkins hospital, when she went in for a biopsy of the tumor growing inside of her. Today, those cells have been crucial in the development of the polio vaccine, aided scientists in learning more about the secrets of cancer, helped in cloning and gene mapping, and have ultimately, been sold by the billions. Even still, Henrietta was buried in an unmarked grave.
The Fluidity of Henrietta Lacks. Gender Norms & Racial Bias in the study of the Modern “Henrietta Lacks” Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman whose cancer cells were the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research. An immortalized cell line will reproduce indefinitely under specific conditions, and the HeLa cell line continues to be a source of invaluable medical data to present day. Lacks was the unwitting source of these cells from a tumor biopsied during treatment for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. in 1951. The cells were then cultured by George Otto Gey who created the cell line known as HeLa, which is still
A non-fiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is about an African American woman who developed cervical cancer. While trying to diagnose her illness Johns Hopkins Hospital, got a sample of her tumor and sent to the culture lab. Inside the lab, George Guy harvests the cancerous cells that began to divide into hundreds of cells that became known as HeLa cells. The book is made up of hundreds of interviews that Rebecca Skloot accomplishes most of these interviews were of the Lacks family.
After a year of sensing that something wasn't right Henrietta made the decision to get the “knob in her womb” as she would describe it checked out at John Hopkins Hospital; One of the top hospitals and at the time one of the only that would attend patients of color. She lived during a time where people could show at white-only hospitals only to be rejected and left to die. During her first visit no clear diagnosis had been made that day but one thing was clear, Henrietta was going to be a patient like no other. A couple days the results from her biopsy came back. Henrietta had a stage 1 Epidermoid Carcinoma of the Cervix.
Maybe figure out how to duplicate the cells and use it for other drugs that can help people heal better. All through this research and testing Henrietta was left in the dark she didn’t even know that the doctors removed a piece of her cervix for research purposes. She didn’t even receive credit for her cells until much much later. No one knew about the HeLa cells except for the doctors because they were trying to keep it a secret so their project wouldn’t get shutdown by not informing the patient that they’re using their cells. Some would say that the doctors did the right thing and kept the identity of the cells disclosed because later on it led to saving so many lives.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is at once a biography, a work of science journalism, and a book about the interconnected topics of ethics, justice, and racism. Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman who died from cervical cancer in 1951, was the source of the so-called HeLa cell line, which is “omnipresent” (Skloot, 2010, p. 24) in modern science. The HeLa cell line was derived from Henrietta Lacks’ cancerous tumor, which, against the wishes of Henrietta’s family was taken from her corpse and has been used for prolific and lucrative medical research for over seven decades (Skloot, 2010). Skloot (2010) described The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as “a biography of both the cells and the woman they came from—someone’s daughter, wife, and mother” (pp. 25-26). While the HeLa cells are ubiquitous in research, the woman from whom they came is, at best, a footnote in biological or medical textbooks.
Later their medical records were released to the press and published without consent,” Skloot wrote. Initially, the Lacks family had no idea that Henrietta’s cells were used in groundbreaking accomplishments. Adding salt to the wound, the family was never, even poorly, compensated from a multibillion dollar profit earned by cell line companies who made use of Gey’s HeLa cells. Moreover, even the family of the “most important woman” considered by the research community did not even have the chance to access treatments that were developed using HeLa cells.
The chapter, "Illegal, Immoral, and Deplorable" from Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, details the process by which scientist Chester Southam ran experiments on people using Henrietta Lacks cancer cells without giving informed consent. Chester Southam is a virologist concerned about the safety of other scientist working with HeLa. Southam begins to conduct unorthodox experiments on patients that already have cancer. The patients never know that Southam is injecting them with harmful cells. The central idea of the text is that Chester Southam is an inconsiderate, deceiving, and selfish scientist that cares more about his benefit than others.
Back when people began finding out about the cells, media was not as big as it is today. The HeLa cells that are “immortal” and advancing ways in medical research that most did not think was even possible, would have made headlines all around the world. Usually, most children know when their parents go to the doctor for health problems as major as cancer. Also, technology has made huge strides since Henrietta’s time. Doctors would have been able to complete tests on her cells much quicker than before, which would have allowed doctors to see how advantageous Henrietta’s cells were.
Day, her husband, was one of the few who knew about her cancer. Cancer during this generation was unheard of and unspoken for; when Henrietta revealed the details to her husband, he had many concerns. Closer to her death, Day, along with his cousins, encountered Henrietta in massive pain. They didn’t understand much about her health until this moment. At this time, “They didn’t realize she was dying.
They fought and did not always get along, but one thing is for certain, family came first to them. Their importance of family shined through when Henrietta was first diagnosed with Cervical cancer. Although they were mostly uneducated, they asked questions and took the time to try to understand the disease Henrietta was diagnosed with. They were there for one another during the most difficult time of their lives. When a family member becomes ill, the rest of the family becomes your rock and shoulder to lean on.
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.
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.
Scientists and doctors made great discoveries with the HeLa cells of Henrietta Lacks. The family of Henrietta Lacks had to live with the aftermath of decisions made by doctors and