Henrietta Lacks as Human Beings, Each Person

Henrietta Lacks

As human beings, each person is born with certain inalienable rights. This is the basis for the American constitution and should include rights to the body as well as the spirit. The case of Henrietta Lacks was a milestone for medical research and has potentially led to curatives for many illnesses. However, the woman behind this research was never aware of her remarkable body. Henrietta Lacks was a cancer patient who died from her illness. Cells from her body were taken after they were found to be mutagenic. The woman herself was never made aware that her cells had been collected and her next of kin was not made aware of the fact until decades after her passing (Landecker 2000,-page 55). The story of Henrietta Lacks is one where human beings have to question where the line draws on their rights. In this case, researchers did not have consent to take her cells nor did they protect her dignity by providing her with doctor-patient confidentiality. In Rebecca Skloot's non-fiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the author writes about the woman of the title whose cells were taken and used in experimentation and research after her death. Reading the book, one has to ask if Lacks was given the right to informed patient consent or confidentiality.

In the 1950s, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. During the course of her illness, doctors and other medical professionals took samples of cells from Lacks' body. In those cells the researchers at the hospital found something quite unexpected and unique. Lacks was one of an extremely rare type of person who produced what scientists came to refer to as "immortal cells" (Zielinski 2010,-page 1). Most human cells are able to divide only a certain number of times before they die and thus the cells have to be replaced by the growth of new cells within the body. Lacks' cells were what have now become known as "immortal cells." This means that her cells (called HeLa cells in Lacks' honor) can divide an infinite number of times and continue to exist. The cells do not die, but instead continually replicate. Her cells do not need to replenish themselves because they continue to form from the initial cells. When the medical staff came to this realization they became excited about all the potential medical possibilities that the existence of immortal cells provided.

The Gey lab, a medical facility functioning within the United States at the time of Lacks' illness, were highly interested in researching immortal cells and wanted to use Lacks' body after her death to further their research (Skloot 2011,-page 90). Scientists at the lab wanted to extract cells from many locations on the body and see if the HeLa cells were present all over the body or if they were localized in one place. Gey asked Lacks' husband if they could perform an autopsy and collect cells. The spouse of the deceased initially refused the autopsy feeling that dissection of the body would be disrespectful to his loved ones. However, the Gey lab persisted and explained to Lacks' husband that the cells were important to research (Gold 1986). Finally he agreed to let them perform the autopsy. The Gey lab, however, never told anyone from Henrietta's family why her cells were so important and exactly what value they had, thus denying them the potential for informed consent. The lab also never asked for permission to either reproduce or to distribute the dead woman's cells.

After Lacks died, Dr. Gey immorally and perhaps illegally reproduced the HeLa cells and sent them to research facilities all over the world. Through these procedures, the Gey lab received quite a bit of money from the other facilities (Brown 1983,-page 416). Meanwhile, the family of the deceased woman was living in poverty with a father who had to work more than one job to feed his family. The children were often left hungry and ill-nourished (Skloot 2011,-page 110-111). This fact alone makes one question the equity of human dignity. On the one hand is Dr. Gey who intentionally withheld information from the deceased woman's husband about what he intended to do with her cells and on the other hand, the family of the deceased woman who are being forced to live below the poverty line without being given any of the benefits from their mother's assistance in progressing medical researcher.

Over the years, the HeLa cells travelled all over the world. Some researchers were deplorably corrupt in their usage of the cells. One researcher was injecting human beings with the cells without even giving them the knowledge that the cells came from a woman with cancer and could potentially render the volunteer afflicted with cancer as well (Skloot 2011,-page 130). Again, this shows how the HeLa cells were involved in violation of informed patient consent. Another researcher injected more than 400 people with the cells, also without providing his or her patients with any indication about the potential ramifications of the injection. Are these men more entitled to human dignity than the woman who died and left children who would never know their mother?

In the 1970s, then-President Richard Nixon launched a war on cancer and increased federal spending on cancer research (Skloot 2011,-page 173). With this important announcement, reporters began investigating all previous research into cancer treatment. This was how the family of Henrietta Lacks finally discovered what had actually happened to their mother's body and how her cells had contributed to medical research. The very fact that Lacks' identity was so easily revealed shows how little concern the scientists and reporters had for her confidentiality. Some scientists also wanted to track down the family of Henrietta Lacks to test on their cells. They wanted to find out if there was a genetic link to people with immortal cells. Without knowing their mother's legacy, the children and grandchildren were surprised when asked to participate in medical research. When reports began to circulate that the cells were obtained under dubious circumstances, the family began expressing their displeasure and disapproval of what had happened. Lacks' daughter-in-law made a statement regarding Henrietta's alleged donation of her cells. In the statement she made it clear that Henrietta Lacks had never volunteered to donate her cells for medical research. They had, quite simply, been taken from her. The Gey Lab was therefore guilty of not only improper consent, but not requesting proper consent at all.