One of the fundamental rights of a patient is to protect their privacy, which was violated in Henrietta Lacks case and also she did not give consent for her cells to be extracted. Even though Hela cells have been the foundation for learning about any process that occurs in human cells (Lucey, Nelson & Hutchin, 2009) I still think it is unethical the way the specimen was obtained. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Revised Common Rule states that informed consent should be presented to individuals and they should understand the risk and benefit of the study. Also, researchers can use leftover specimen for future research without obtaining a consent as long as the identity of the person is unknown (Emanuel & Menikoff, 2011).
