Henrietta Lacks Ethics

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Pages: 2

Has someone used something of yours without asking you? Well I know that has happened to me and I was angry, but that is also what happened to Henrietta Lacks. I believe that Henrietta Lacks was ethically mistreated in the rights of her cells being taken. Today I will be telling you why I think she was mistreated and if the family should have compensation for her mother. First, should Henrietta lacks cells been taken without consent? This topic is a very “murky” topic according to Skloot, and I agree. My first opinion before I read the book was no, Henrietta's cells shouldn't have been taken without her consent. The only thing that is stopping me from standing behind my first belief wholeheartedly is the time period. We have to remember that the time period was in the 50’s with no laws against the doctors taking your cells without consent. According to the book Skloot said this case made the HIPAA Law and all the other laws that protect you and me today. After reading this book I believe that no, her cells shouldn't have been taken without consent but we can't do anything about it because it was in the 50’s with no laws. There is many clues in the book that show scientist and other people in this book questioning the ethics part of th …show more content…
I believe that they should receive some type of compensation whether money or even a foundation started for them. According to the video we saw in class they want to start a foundation for her. According to the book a scientist named Christoph Lengauer showed Deborah and Zakariyya her cells. I consider this a little bit of a compensation. If this was my mom I would want to suck every penny dry from the person who did this to my mom. But then again you run into the time period. According to the book scientist and other people who got a hold of the cells were making a multi-million dollar business off of a woman and the kids don't even get a