Why Is Henrietta Lacks Unethical

Immortality is highly sought after by many individuals since the beginning of time, a female by the name of Henrietta Lacks was able to unknowingly achieve this goal, and still remains living until this day. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman living from 1920 until 1951. Although her body died in 1951, her cells are still alive and thriving today. These cells were harvested from Henrietta’s cervix after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Research on Henrietta Lack’s cells laid the foundation for a wealth of extraordinary developments in the life science industry. Henrietta Lacks lived a normal life with her husband Day, and their five children whom brought her the most joy. One day she noticed an unusual pain during intercourse …show more content…
But Henrietta Lacks did not have this ownership, and the harvesting of her cells lead to many ethical questions. The John Hopkins Hospital was one of the only hospitals she, as an African - American woman in the 1940’s was allowed to receive treatment. Henrietta gave no consent to the harvesting of her cells, and the doctors did not take the time to ask if being a donor was something she wanted, because she was black, they didn't see her opinion as valuable. Her cells were taken at a time when it was not illegal to take cells, but it was morally unethical. Yet another unethical procedure doctors executed was not informing Henrietta Lacks on the risks and benefits involved in her treatment, and she did not give her informed consent. Henrietta’s cells can still be purchased today from medical laboratories, but many people believe they should not be available because they were stolen from her body. Henrietta’s family was also unaware of her cell’s mass population and were outraged when they found out what had happened with the HeLa cells over twenty years later. In addition to the selling of her cells, Henrietta’s privacy was also violated when her name and cells were put out all over the world. Her cells have produced faster then any other cells, and have helped the medical industry, but because they were taken without Henrietta’s knowledge …show more content…
Largely due to HeLa cells, the polio vaccine was developed. Polio was rampant in the 1950’s, by putting HeLa cells into a live vaccine Polio became less and less widespread. “Not long after Henrietta’s death, planning began for a HeLa factory — a massive operation that would grow to produce trillions of HeLa cells each week. It was built for one reason: to stop polio” (Skloot 93). In addition to the polio vaccine, HeLa cells also helped decrease cases for the HPV18 virus. Henrietta had the HPV18 disease which originated from an STD. Scientist were able to place multiple HeLa DNA cells into a vaccine decreasing HPV18 by two thirds in teen girls. Author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot, writes,
“I’ve [ReBecca Skloot] tried to imagine how she’d feel knowing that her cells went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to human cells in zero gravity, or that they helped with some of the most important advances in medicine: the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization. I’m pretty sure that she — like most of us — would be shocked to hear that there are trillions more of her cells growing in laboratories now than there ever were in her

Show More