The Birth of HeLa What are your initial thoughts when the word ethics is mentioned? Some ideas that come to mind most likely may be guidelines, rules, behavioral conduct, the difference between what is acceptable or unacceptable, or simply just some type of establishment between what is right and what is wrong. Ethics is defined as the system or code of conduct and morals advocated by a particular individual or group (Towsley-Cook & Young, 2007). In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a beautiful, uneducated, African American tobacco farmer developed cervical cancer from which cell samples were taken during her treatment. Many complicated ethical issues derived from the collection and birth of Henrietta’s malignant cervical tissue, better
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It was not uncommon for physicians to conduct research on patients without their knowledge in the 1950’s. Much confusion and frustration toward the Lacks’ family originated when the doctors collected Henrietta’s cells for research without consent or informed consent. When Henrietta was on the operating table, her cells were taken without knowledge or consent. Consent is simply the agreeance for something to happen or permission to commit a certain act. Informed consent means: you are informed and have received information about your health condition and treatment options; you understand your health condition and different treatments options; and you are capable of deciding what treatment you want and give consent to receive it (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2015). David Lacks or Day, Henrietta’s husband, was encouraged, without complete knowledge and understanding of the procedure, to collect Henrietta’s cells after her death during an autopsy. Day did not give permission to cut on Henrietta; he only gave permission for an autopsy. Most of the Lacks family were uneducated, and most did not understand above a fourth grade level. Although translating these complex issues for a lay audience would have been a difficult task, it would have been the most ethical …show more content…
Autonomy is defined as the concept that patients must be treated as individuals and informed about procedures to facilitate appropriate decisions (Towsley-Cook & Young, 2007). This is based off of the fact that every individual or patient has a right to understand and decide what procedure they want to follow. Lacks’ autonomy was initially violated when her cells were taken without any knowledge or consent. When Day gave consent solely for an autopsy, not collecting Henrietta’s tissue, his autonomy was violated. When researchers took blood samples from the Lacks family and did not inform them of the entire truth about what the samples were being collected for, their autonomy was also violated. As stated in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, “With the ability to identify genes from a blood sample or even a single cell, the risk of a blood draw was no longer just a minor infection or pain of a needle stick – it was that someone could uncover your genetic information. It was about violation of
It was not uncommon for physicians to conduct research on patients without their knowledge in the 1950’s. Much confusion and frustration toward the Lacks’ family originated when the doctors collected Henrietta’s cells for research without consent or informed consent. When Henrietta was on the operating table, her cells were taken without knowledge or consent. Consent is simply the agreeance for something to happen or permission to commit a certain act. Informed consent means: you are informed and have received information about your health condition and treatment options; you understand your health condition and different treatments options; and you are capable of deciding what treatment you want and give consent to receive it (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2015). David Lacks or Day, Henrietta’s husband, was encouraged, without complete knowledge and understanding of the procedure, to collect Henrietta’s cells after her death during an autopsy. Day did not give permission to cut on Henrietta; he only gave permission for an autopsy. Most of the Lacks family were uneducated, and most did not understand above a fourth grade level. Although translating these complex issues for a lay audience would have been a difficult task, it would have been the most ethical …show more content…
Autonomy is defined as the concept that patients must be treated as individuals and informed about procedures to facilitate appropriate decisions (Towsley-Cook & Young, 2007). This is based off of the fact that every individual or patient has a right to understand and decide what procedure they want to follow. Lacks’ autonomy was initially violated when her cells were taken without any knowledge or consent. When Day gave consent solely for an autopsy, not collecting Henrietta’s tissue, his autonomy was violated. When researchers took blood samples from the Lacks family and did not inform them of the entire truth about what the samples were being collected for, their autonomy was also violated. As stated in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, “With the ability to identify genes from a blood sample or even a single cell, the risk of a blood draw was no longer just a minor infection or pain of a needle stick – it was that someone could uncover your genetic information. It was about violation of