Henrietta Lacks Ethical Analysis

The Ethical Reflection of Henrietta Lack’s Story On October 4, 1951, a lady by the name of Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer and her cells were acquired for the purpose of research. Dr. Guy, director, and researcher at Johns Hopkins Hospital went onto live television proposing to the public that he had found a means to eradicate cancer through a recent study of cancerous cells (Curtis, 2012). It was clear that medical research had begun to soar, but the balance between the exploration of scientific research and protecting patient’s rights was most definitely in question. The cells of Henrietta Lack were attained after her death without any conversation or consent from family members of Miss Lack. What takes place over the thirty years …show more content…
and researcher and lacked a nursing role throughout the movie. After further reviewing the Belmont Report, applying the three ethical principles, beneficence, patient respect, and justice would produce a study that is ethical (Polit & Beck, 2018). Producing a study that is rich in content, is equally as important but as well being mindful of the patient’s rights. Viewing this movie with the vast amount of nursing experience I have presently, I will guide my own research in an open, fair, confidential and compassionate manner. Much of a nurse’s research will have an equal balance of applying the ethical principles but generate material that will be clear, concise and have substance to produce a strong …show more content…
During the research process, justice is a fair selection of members for the study distributing equal distribution of risks and benefits. A fair process is the key and not to choose certain participants to be given increased risks more than the rest of the group (Polit & Beck, 2018). The ethical principles should be applied to each and every study without fail. An illustration of this element of ethics is where Johns Hopkins neglected to provide justice to the family even when they knew they were on to possibly combating cancer (Curtis, 2017). Even today this case is such a debate of ethics. Many people still feel that should be compensated for their contribution to the medical field, especially if their body parts have made the medical industry millions of dollars in progress. I wonder after so many years if Johns Hopkins ever came forward and made amends to the Lack family. The more recent film, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack had a very strong theme and really hits home the ideas of ethics in the twenty-first