Hela Cells Case Study

In our assignment for this week we are to figure out how Hela Cells should be handled both ethically and legally. Back in the 1950 they really did not have the laws we do now, but to be ethically correct in this case I feel that the doctor should have told her that he was taking cells to perform testing on and to get her permission before doing his testing on those cells. But when it came to those days if you were poor and could not afford treatment because of color I guess it didn’t matter to the doctors what they did or didn’t do. I know back in 1951 it was done without informed consent, I do not feel that this was right in any way that the doctor took the cells from Mrs. Lacks even though she was a colored and poor woman they should have asked for her permission to take the cells that would have been the ethical way to handle this situation. …show more content…
I understand that her cells have helped with a lot of medicines and treatments for many different things. Even though it has been a long time since the cells are reproducing in all legal aspects the family as I feel should still be compensated for what their wife and mother went through for them to get the Hela Cells that are still producing today.
I do not think that Henrietta Lacks is an immortal person in any way or form. Since they have taken her cells and are making and reproducing them on a daily basics. I feel that it is a good thing that they are helping a lot of people to get over diseases and the treatments that they need to have in more than one way. I feel that even though it was back in the 1950’s, although doctors were not too much concerned about the identity of a patient, they should have said where the cells came from instead of not letting people know where or who they were