Belmont Report to the Case of Henrietta

¶ … Belmont Report to the case of Henrietta Lacks and how they were violated

The three principle keys in the Belmont Report (1974) involving Henrietta's case were the respect for people, beneficence, and also justice. In respect of the people, two important elements are involved which include all people being treated as autonomous while the other persons with lesser independent autonomy be protected. With beneficence, the researchers should minimize profits while they avoid harming participants. They should also weigh the cost benefit for the participants. Lastly, the justice principle in research compels that benefits made from the research should be well contributed (Scannell, 2010).This means the participants of the research should get a fair share and research can only be conducted on those people who would benefit from it.

These ethics were violated because Ms. Lacks was not treated as an autonomous person hence they retrieved cells from her without her consent. This also shows that she was unprotected. According to Scannell (2010), her cells were developed to become the most useful tool in medicine meaning maximized profits, which did not benefit the poor family from Maryland 2010. Justice requires equal distribution of the benefits, which did not happen in her case. The research was also conducted on a person who was not benefiting from it and this was unethical.

Moral/ethical issues associated with harvesting Henrietta's cells

The HeLa cells as they were referred to were experimented at the concentration camps after the Second World War on prisoners of the Holocaust. This did not meet the code of ethics involving human subjects. This was the same time when in Tuskegee's, black Americans were not being treated for syphilis, but rather were being kept untreated as experimental objects. Ms. Lacks did not consent to the harvesting of her cells. There have been debates on patient's privacy which was not observed in this situation. There was also the conflict of interest because Ms. Lacks may not have agreed to this harvest since the relatives were also against it. It was only fair to explain to the family of their intentions before harvesting the cells. The doctor's intentions may have been good, but without Ms. Lacks go ahead, it was wrong. Tunc reported that the cure for polio was a success, but it benefitted the wrong parties (2011).

Informed consent why it is important to document the process

The importance of informed consent is because when one gets tested without giving consent, the report can be considered null and void. It can be deemed unreliable, and those researching may be in problem with the law. It is important to have this content written down including all details of the study plus the risks and benefits (Tunc, 2011). It has to be signed by the participants after going through it. Informed consent helps individuals access to valuable information on the research.