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…...
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Works Cited:
Brown, Russell and James HM Henderson. (1983). "The Mass Production and Distribution of HeLa Cells at Tuskegee Institute, 1953-1955." J. His Med Allied Sci. 38 (4): 415-43.
Gold, Michael. (1986). A Conspiracy of Cells. State University Press: New York, NY.
Landecker, Hannah. (2000). "Immortality, In Vitro. A History of the HeLa Cell Line." Brodwin,
Paul E. ed, Biotechnology and Culture: Bodies, Anxieties, Ethics. Bloomington. 53-72.
In other words, Lacks's cellular content was taken without her consent, but this would have been the case for a wealthy white woman in the North. This does not make what happened to her morally right, of course, but it is important to remember that what happened to her was not simply because she was poor, female, black, and Southern. The fact that she died from her disease may have been affected by her social status because it limited her ability to get timely medical care. But even this statement must be made cautiously: Her cancer was a very aggressive one and would in all likelihood have proved fatal, especially given the knowledge of the disease at the time and the treatments then available to any woman.
A more recent case demonstrates that little has changed in terms of patient's legal rights to their tissues. In the 1980s, researchers removed the…...
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Works Cited
Skloots, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Crown, 2010. Print.
Henrietta Lacks is unique in medical history. By chance, her cancer cells held special medical significance, which doctors and scientists discovered after harvesting the tissue post-mortem. The event occurred 50 years ago and the family of Henrietta was not told that her cells were taken. This decision is perfectly in line with medical ethics of the time, though it sits uncomfortably with our modern sensibilities. But ethics do change over time -- they are directly related to values held by the larger culture. In the 1950s, medical experimentation of this caliber was new, and it did not even cross the researchers' minds to inform the family. As Grady mentions in her article, there were other issues involved, including differences in race, class and education between the family and the researchers. Lacks was poor and black and the researchers were rich and white. The doctors probably felt that the family would…...
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Many ethical concerns arise in the story of Henrietta Lacks. Privacy is perceived as an ethical dilemma in the present times, however, at the time it occurred it might not have been seen as unethical. Skoot (2010) in the book discusses the unintentionally inconsiderate reporters and researchers who were in violation of the family's privacy by printing and distributing all aspects ranging from the medical records of Henrietta to the genetic information of the family. Such divulgence raises unethical concerns contemporarily, as the disclosure of patient information is not allowed.
Common Morality
In accordance to Gert et al. (2000), a moral agent based on common morality can be delineated as an individual who completely comprehends what is demanded, prohibited, permitted, and affected by moral rules and an individual who can reasonably accepted being guided and also judged by such moral rules. As is known, common morality is a…...
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References
Bauer, K. A. (2009). Privacy and Confidentiality in the Age of E-Medicine. J. Health Care L. &Pol'y, 12, 47.
Gert, B. (2004). Deciding What to Do. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gert, B., Culver, C. M., & Clouser, K. D. (2000). Common morality versus specified principlism: Reply to Richardson. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 25(3), 308-322.
Skloot, R. (2010). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. New York, NY: Broadway Books.
Nurses are always considered helpers and the profession is widely regarded as one for compassionate and helping individuals. The Nursing’s Social Policy Statement is a work that seeks to detail the many ways in which nurses can assist others. How nurses relate with the society is through a relationship. A relationship that is sort of a social contract complete with expectations from both sides. The relationship allows nurses to carry out their professional duties in the provision of care to individual clients and to the society. It also empowers nursing practitioners to engage in policymaking, legislative and political action for the purposes of improving the provision of care, improving nursing practice, improving nursing research, and improving nursing education. It also enables nurses to comprehend the concepts of justice and social ethics and the roles they play in individual and societal health (Fowler, 2015). This work discusses the nursing social contract…...
Belmont eport to the case of Henrietta Lacks and how they were violated
The three principle keys in the Belmont eport (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.…...
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References
Scannell, K. (2010). The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Journal of Legal Medicine, 31(4), 493-498
Tunc, T. (2011). Review of Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. American Journal Of Bioethics, 11(3), 40-41
Henrietta Lacks born August 1, 1920, was an African-American female tobacco farmer who resided in Dundalk, Maryland. She was wife to her first cousin and mother of five children. At the age of 31, Lacks died from cervical cancer. Before she died, a doctor took a sample of her cervical cells. These cells, named HeLa cells, became the immortal cell line that provided a Polio vaccine, aided in cloning, among other scientific breakthroughs. "Henrietta's cells were the first immortal human cells ever grown in culture. They were essential to developing the polio vaccine" (Zielinski, 2010).
HeLa cells have become a benchmark in the study of cellular processes. However, here in lies the controversy. HeLa cells have benefitted many except for the family of the person the sample was derived from. Henrietta Lacks' children, for decades, lived in poverty, with one son homeless. Was it right for a doctor to, without permission,…...
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References
Siminoff, L.A., & Traino, H.M. (2013). Consenting to donation: an examination of current practices in informed consent for tissue donation in the U.S Cell and Tissue Banking, 14(1), 85-95.
Skloot, R. (2010). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Crown Publishers.
Truog, R.D., Kesselheim, A.S., & Joffe, S. (2012). Paying Patients for Their Tissue: The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks. Science, 337(6090), 37-38.
Africans had poor health care in the 1950s
There is much that still remains swept under the proverbial carpet about America's treatment to its African immigrants. One of the chapters, little known and often left untold has only recently started to emerge and concerns American health care system and its using Blacks as guinea pigs.
Attorney and author Vernellia . Tandall tells the story in her book 'Dying While Black' showing how America's health care system was built on the bodies of African-American individuals from the 19th century continuing to present days. Some f the information is unbelievable at best shocking at worst such as her allegations that AIDS was created by a government-sanctioned health care for the purposes of medical advancement.
Countless stories from Black residents of both North and South tell about how they were unwillingly and unknowingly abducted and exploited for medical experiments. There were the 'night doctors' --…...
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References
Brooking Institute (2008) "Meeting the Dilemma of Health Care Access" (PDF). Opportunity 08: A Project of the Brookings Institution. Retrieved on 2/19/2011
Ethical Issues in Medicine
Ethical Dimensions of esearch Studies
Ethical issues in medicine: Clinical trials and cancer patients.
Clinical trials, in which a treatment or a drug is tested upon human beings, are a vital part of bringing a drug to market. It is essential that the treatment be shown to be safe, effective, and better than existing treatments of similar cost and safety levels. However, when developing a drug for patients who are facing a potentially terminal diagnosis such as cancer patients, the ethics of using clinical trials becomes extremely murky. "To advance the science of medicine and improve the care of patients, we need the objective data that can only be gained from clinical trials, in which outcomes are dispassionately analyzed. But the patients in cancer trials are not data points; they are vulnerable people who often view a clinical trial as perhaps their last hope" (Markman 2003: 1008). They are…...
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References
Markman, Maurie. (2003). The needs of science vs. The needs of patients. Cleveland Clinic
"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot "In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" by Nathaniel Philbrick "Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America" by Beth Macy
These books provide in-depth, well-researched accounts of historical events, scientific discoveries, and societal issues. They rely on extensive interviews, archival research, and scientific data to support their arguments and conclusions.
Persuasive Essay Books
"How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg
Here are some essay books to consider based on different themes:
1. "The Case for Reparations" by Ta-Nehisi Coates - a persuasive essay arguing for reparations for African Americans for centuries of slavery and discrimination.
2. "The Souls of Black Folk" by W.E.B. Du Bois - a historical essay collection exploring the experiences of African Americans in the United States post-Civil War.
3. "Bad Feminist" by Roxane Gay - a collection of essays that are both personal and critical, exploring the complexities of modern feminism.
4. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot - a research-based essay exploring the ethical implications of....
Embarks on a perilous journey to find the secret of eternal life
Ancient Limits of Human Mortality
Biological limitations and aging process
Inevitability of death
II. Body
Scientific Advances and Life Extension
Medical advancements: vaccines, antibiotics, and treatments
Technological innovations: organ transplants, prosthetics, and gene therapy
Targeting Aging and Longevity
Research on understanding and manipulating cellular processes
Studies on diet, exercise, and lifestyle factors influencing longevity
Artificial Intelligence and Health Data
Personalized medicine and tailored treatments
Early disease detection and preventive measures
III. Conclusion
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