Henrietta Lacks Informed Consent

The biggest challenge was keeping the cells from contamination, George’s wife was a surgical nurse which was very helpful in keeping things sterile("Henrietta Lacks, HeLa cells, and cell culture contamination."). His next challenge was where to put them to grow he hand blew his test tubes, he also created a machine that kept the fluid at a constant but subtle speed at one turn per hour("George Otto Gey - Cancer Research." ). This roller tube technique is still used today. Since her cells are immortal scientist had more time to experiment on them and less time keeping them alive. HeLa’s cells launched a multimillion dollar industry, yet her family never saw any profits.

What scientists have found out is that it is very difficult to keep human cells in the lab for a long amount of time and days. When it is removed from the human body, most of it will die immediately or reproduce a limited amount of cancerous cells from a 31 year old woman named Henrietta Lacks who cells never died. An author tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a woman who was diagnosed

Rebecca uncovers that when Henrietta received treatment for cancer, a sample tissue was cut from the tumor growing in her cervix without Henerietta’s knowledge. Dr. TeLinde, the leading doctor in the study of cervical cancer, took tissue samples from women in public wards without their consent. This was common practice back in that time, and TeLinde figured that it was a fair exchange since the people in the public ward of Hopkins Hospital were receiving treatment without payment. Skloot lets us know that TeLinde was in the middle of proving that invasive tumors developed from noninvasive tumors. His research would be further helped by Gey and Margaret, who worked for over 30 years in producing an immortal lineage of human cells outside of the body.

Henrietta Lacks did not know that a tissue sample had been taken from her cervix, but the turning point in medical ethics was when researchers started injecting patients with cancer cells without their consent, so they could see how cancer spreads. After that, the government institutionalized medical review boards and informed consent laws. By law, informed consent means that the patient knows that the study involves research, the purpose of the research, the duration of their participation, procedure,

Although many are unaware of it, scientific ethics have always been a major issue, especially in the United States. This was especially the case of Henrietta Lacks and her family through the early 1950s to present day. Henrietta Lacks hurried into John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland to find out why there was a lump on her cervix. When doctors diagnosed her with cervical cancer, she filled out a form giving consent to let the doctors perform any surgery they deemed necessary. Soon after Henrietta died in October of 1951, her husband, David (Day) Lacks, signed a consent form to let them perform an autopsy on her corpse.

This was the first time that Guy and his research team had come close to being able to grow human cells inside a dish, without them dying off. Guy continued to grow these cells in his lab, still not informing

Lacks’ Cells Alive for Medical Industry Benefits The story of Henrietta Lacks in this reading is fascinating. By using Ms. Lacks’ cells, medical science has developed many cures. By one woman contributing her cells decades ago without her knowledge, on an involuntary basis, the impact has become mind-boggling. At the same time, it is disheartening and shaming to know that Henrietta’s family was unable to pay for medical attention for her.

The Lacks family did not trust the research doctors for not receiving their consent upon taking her cells. In addition, the doctors at Hopkins hospital were doing this to many African-American families. They were called “night doctors” because African-Americans believed they kidnapped African Americans at night, so they could do research on their bodies. New cases up to the end of the twentieth century surfaced stating that Hopkins Hospital were running unethical test on African-American

These cells were obtained in 1951 at John Hopkins University during a biopsy performed during her treatment for cervical cancer (Troug, Kesselheim, & Joffe, 2012). Also, this article describes the property rights of human tissue. There are many cases much like Henrietta's when it comes to right of human tissue. An, example of this is John Moore v. Regents of the University of California Troug, Kesselheim, & Joffe, 2012). In regards to the ownership of tissue, this article also, describes the investigator's obligations to individuals from who they seek for research (Troug, Kesselheim, & Joffe, 2012).

In the article “ Immortal Cell , Enduring Issues” informed consent on Henrietta Lack’s was not provided. Informed consent is not just a piece of paper , it's an explanation on the procedure that are going to happen and the materials that are involved. Henrietta was being used as test subject at John Hopkins Hospital and was also being used for the product she had. Henrietta received treatment that did not assist her but assisted the hospital on their wants and needs. John Hopkins consent forms includes everything that will happen throughout the procedures and also the supplements on what they will take .

The cells that came from Henrietta Lack’s tumor were extremely strange, normal cells go through something called apoptosis, programed cell death, the cells from Lack’s tumor did not go through this process and continued to divided continually. Doctors and lab pathologists

These cells have been the oldest and most commonly used human cell line, and it is also remarkably durable and prolific

These cells helped develop the polio vaccine and drugs to fight against a variety of diseases. They were used in gene mapping. They were the first cells cloned and used to create the first human-hybrid cells. These cells are used in nearly every form of research. Henrietta’s cells are invaluable.

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.

The origination of HeLa cells, used in biomedical research for a potential cure for cancer, had made many ground breaking discoveries in science; all thanks to one woman, Mrs. Henrietta Lacks. The history of Mrs. Lacks’s contribution to these studies raised many ethical issues concerning healthcare practice. In the short film, The Way of All Flesh, we learn how these cells were revealed by direct violation of ethical principles. During the 1950s, matters regarding informed consent practices were in their beginning stages of implementation.