What Is The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Responsible For The Unification Of Dna

In June of 1973, a group of researchers were gathered at the First International Workshop on Human Gene Mapping. They were trying to find solutions for the HeLa contamination problem they were having. However in order to solve the problem they would need sample of DNA from Henrietta’s immediate family members. Victor McKusick, was one of the first scientists to publish Henrietta’s real identity was at that gathering and he offered to help because all of Henrietta’s family members were still patients at Hopkins, making it easy to find them. He was a physician on staff therefore he had access to their contact information and medical records. After the conference, Henrietta’s husband David Lacks received a call Hopkins asking if they could draw
blood from his family. But the family not fully understanding what was happening thought that the blood would be taken to test if the rest of them have the same cancer that killed Henrietta. The Lackses had no idea about everything going on about the cells, but they wanted to try to understand. The Lackses had no idea about the HeLa contamination that had led McKusick to them until a young reporter for Rolling Stone named Michael Rogers showed up at their home. He had expected to interview the Lackses about Henrietta, but instead he was bombarded by questions. Rogers later said that, “ It was so clear they hadn’t been treated well. They truly had no idea what was going on, and they really wanted to understand. But doctors just took blood samples without explaining anything and left the family worrying.” Even when doctors used their blood for their research purposes they still continued keeping the family in the dark about Henrietta’s cells. Regardless of what the cells were used for Henrietta or her family should have been asked for consent before doctors took samples. And afterwards they could have at least made things right by apologizing to the family and explaining everything about the HeLa cells to them.
The Lackses lives did not get any easier after learning about the cells because although they knew they existed, they did not understand what that meant or the concept of it. They just continued imagining the worst. Doctors continued researching and finding improvements with Henrietta's cells while journalists continued writing about the HeLa cells and the impact they had made. A reporter from Science 85 magazine named Michael Gold wrote a book called A Conspiracy of Cells: One Woman’s Immortal Legacy and the Medical Scandal It Caused. Deborah was about to get the book and as she was reading it, she realized that Gold had quoted extensively from her mother’s medical records. No one in Henrietta’s family had ever seen those records, let alone give Hopkins the permission to release them to a journalist. It just seemed as they could not catch a break. If Hopkins was not able to notify the family about the details of Henrietta’s cancer and death, let alone show them her medical records; they should not have been able to also release her medical records to a journalist to publish for the whole world to see. During that time it was not illegal for a journalist to publish medical records given to him by a source. However it was not standard practice for a doctor to hand a patient’s medical records over to a reporter. For centuries patient confidentiality has been an ethical tenet, so they least that they could have done was keep the records to themselves and with the family after everything that they had gone through.
There is the reasoning behind doctors not asking for consent being that hospitals like Hopkins who were free believed it was fair to use their patients for research as a form of payment.
Also in Henrietta Lacks’ case her cells were used for good and they have benefitted the entire world because of the many cures it has bought. And George Gey had not taken a sample of her tissue to sell her cells or become rich off of them, but simply for science. He only used HeLa cells for research purposes and to find cures and he was just giving them away to researchers in order for them to also do research. As stated in The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks, “Gey’s history indicates that he wasn’t particularly interested in science for profit: in the early 1940s he turned down a request to create and run the first commercial cell-culture lab.” All of the science that Gey participated in was never for profit, but the advancement and growth of science. In the end George Gey made a comfortable salary from Hopkins, but he was not wealthy. And although the Lacks family thought that Hopkins and many other researchers were getting rich off of Henrietta’s cells while they were poor and could not afford health care, that was not the case. In fact Hopkins did not receive any money from Henrietta’s cells. Various spokespeople for John Hopkins, including at least one past university president, have issued statements to Rebecca Skloot and other journalists over the years stating that Hopkins never
made a cent off HeLa cells, and that George Gey gave them all away for free. There are not any records of Gey or Hopkins accepting or receiving any money HeLa cells.
Regardless of if Hopkins or Gey received any money for HeLa cells, the family still should have been asked for consent to take Henrietta’s cells and then use them for their own research.
Hopkins, its doctors, and researchers never thought about whether or not her cells were taken with consent or contacting her family. “ Years later, when I asked McKusick if anyone had tried to get informed consent from the Lacks family, he said, “I suspect there was no effort to explain anything in great detail.” But someone should have explained everything to them and made them aware of what was going on. Even after Henrietta’s cells were taken without consent the Lacks family deserved to know was happening with Henrietta’s cells. Susan Hsu who worked with McKusick later stated that she felt very bad because at the time no one thought that the Lacks family would not understand. Even if no one realized that the family would not understand, they should have been asked for consent in the first place. There were many opportunities for them to ask even if they failed to ask before they took Henrietta’s cells. The family could have been asked for consent to do research on the cells or even consent to take their blood in order to stop the contamination of HeLa cells. There were many benefits that came from HeLa cells but no decisions should have been made without the consent of her or her
family.
The growth and sustainability of the human race is certainly important and beneficial to all, but there is a limit to everything. No body parts should be taken from anyone regardless of the circumstances without either their consent or their family’s. Henrietta Lacks was not told of the sample being taken from her cancerous tumor because it was not anything new for the Hopkins doctors; they took samples from most of their patients in order to grow the first immortal human cells. HeLa cells have helped to create many cures and help sustain life. Without Henrietta’s cells science would not be the way it is today, nor would we be so educated about how the human body and its cells react to different treatments. There are a numerous amount of benefits that have come with the immortal cells, but the racial and consent issues that were occurring did not disappear. Henrietta Lacks died in 1951, but her family was not even aware of the existence of HeLa cells until 1971. No matter how much good her cells have done, her family deserved to know. Henrietta Lacks’ story should not have been kept a secret.
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