Around this same time, the Lacks family first learned about the existence of HeLa when medical researchers contacted them to request blood samples to help them map Henrietta’s genes (Zielinski). Public revelation of these incidents helped propel the issue of informed consent into the spotlight in the 1970s, and eventually paved the way to regulations being enacted such as the National Research Act in 1974 and the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects in 1981, also known as the Common Rule. Radhika Rao, Professor of Law at UC Hastings, explains that the Common Rule requires researchers to “provide the research subject with information about the potential risks and benefits of participating in research, and must obtain informed consent” …show more content…
Past exclusions of informed consent have led to some degree of distrust for medical researchers among black Americans. According to a 1997 study, when a group of African American patients was asked what words came to mind when they heard the term medical research, the responses were often negative, including phrases such as deception, cruelty, and guinea pig (Corbie-Smith et al. 540). Researchers Catherine Earl and Pamela Penney attribute the historical absence of informed consent with creating this distrust toward medical researchers among African Americans, which in turn contributes to their low participation rates in current medical studies (753). These low participation rates create a disparity in the medical care provided to many African Americans, as medical professionals have less knowledge of how to treat diseases that most impact black