Henrietta Lacks Medical Ethics

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, is a true story about a woman whose cells life on in many laboratories though she died over 50 years ago. In her mid-thirties, she developed cancer and passed away soon after. The hospital treated her and but in the end the toxicity of the disease growing inside her overcame her body. During an early stage of her cancer, unbeknownst to Henrietta, a sample of her cells were taken and research was conducted on them resulting in many advances relating to cancer, polio, and other diseases. While I believe the use of HeLa cells was an incredible opportunity for the field of science, it by no means outweighs the damage done to the Lacks family and the African American community as a whole. …show more content…
Twenty-seven years after Henrietta’s death The Belmont Report was published. This document laid out the ground rules for the ethical research in the U.S. In order to do the same research as the HeLa research, scientists and doctors must go through 3 primary steps. According to the Belmont Report, “Respect for persons requires that subjects, to the degree that they are capable, be given the opportunity to choose what shall or shall not happen to them” (The Belmont Report). First, they must acquire Informed Consent, meaning an individual must be given all the information relating to the medical proceedings in a comprehensible manner. In addition, the individual must agree to participate in the research voluntarily. Secondly, there must be an assessment of risks and benefits. This is basically stating that the research may not be conducted if the risks outweigh the benefits. Lastly, there must be an ethical selection of subjects. The Belmont Report states, “they should not offer potentially beneficial research only to some patients who are in their favor or select only "undesirable" persons for risky research” (The Belmont Report). Researchers must be far when selection their research