Why Is Henrietta Lacks Unethical

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Pages: 2

If doctors were to take your cells from your body without asking, you would not only be distressed but probably befuddled as well. How could your cells from your body be taken without your permission? The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot recounts the events of a legendary lady and her family who went through troublesome and perplexing times. Henrietta Lacks, known for her “HeLa” cells, was a poor African American tobacco farmer. Henrietta was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951, a time when there were scarcely any ethics laws in place for doctors and medical personnel. Ordinarily, medical personnel would use treatments or do things that were not ethical. During one of Henrietta’s radium treatments for her cancer, some of her cells were taken without her consent. Nevertheless, these cells, named “HeLa,” were unknowingly taken would then generate major medical breakthroughs. “HeLa” cells aided in creating the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and other assorted cancer treatments. While many people knew of “HeLa,” they had no idea who the person was behind the cells. When Henrietta Lacks’s family found out about the cells they were disturbed and puzzled. Henrietta Lacks’s family was African American …show more content…
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a captivating, nonfiction book that everyone should read. It makes you realize not only how unacceptable medical care was for African Americans in 1951, but also how the medical field was secretive and used knowledge for their own advantages. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks taught me an abundance of a woman and her family that I never knew existed. The novel also taught me about cells and using them for testing and discovering new information that I did not