Rebecca De Mornay

Medical Ethics and the Abuse of Power In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, we see how medical professionals can abuse their power when treating patients. Henrietta Lacks was an underprivileged, African American woman with cervical cancer. While visiting her doctors for treatment, cancerous cells were taken from her, harvested, and distributed to labs all over the world without her knowledge. She was treated during the 1950s when racism was at its prime, causing her to be…

On October 4, 1951, Henrietta Lacks died, but her cells, HeLa, continue to live today. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2010), discusses Mrs. Lacks life, her cells after she died and how her cells are still living. Success has been reached by advancing medical research of multiple vaccinations, such as a polio vaccine (Skloot, 2010), but Henrietta and her family have been disrespected by not being reimbursed for Henrietta’s contribution to medical research. Henrietta’s…

Twenty-five years ago, two women, brilliant and brave women, gave a landmark speech on the AIDS epidemic at the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York City. Elizabeth Glaser, who was one of the two women speakers had contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion, passed it on to her children, and would shortly lose her life to it in 1994 (Lucas, S. & Medhurst, M., 2009). Elizabeth, who during her speech, referred to herself as the “strange spokesperson” for such a group – was a well-to-do…

Henrietta Lacks has helped millions of people throughout the years and most people have no idea who this woman was or what her sacrifice did for mankind. In Zimmer (2013) and Radiolab (2010) we briefly learn about Henrietta, who is more famously known for her cancer cells. She was a poor, uneducated black woman from Baltimore who died at the age of 31 in 1951. She may have been an uneducated woman, however, she did no her own body and she knew something was wrong. She, herself was the first…

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play about early America during the witch trials. In the Crucible a antagonist, Abigail Williams, had accused and had deadly sins and her dark heart blam people of witch craft, she also wanted to have an affair with a married man. One of the most responsible deadly sin in this play was lust and greed. Both play a key role in the story. Lust is what Abigail had, greed is what a lot of people had in Salem and some had lust and other deadly sins. Lust is an…

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot displays the controversy as to whether or not the public has a responsibility to support scientific progress at all costs. This controversy became evident after Henrietta Lacks’ cervical tissues were taken from her body without her consent and then her cells, which became immortal, were used for medical research everywhere and her family did not know about it. These cells have helped the medical field in…

society. However, as time shifts, society's intuition towards the definition of legacy changes as well. There are various types of legacies, ranging from a pecuniary legacy to a reversionary legacy. In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta Lacks leaves behind a reversionary legacy, where an artifact is passed on and can be beneficial to others during their lifespan. A person who played a significant role in Henrietta’s Legacy was her daughter, Deborah Lacks.…

Theranos was founded by Elizabeth Holmes, Stanford dropout turn creator of a multi-billion dollar enterprise, while the company goes against the ethical stance of Utilitarianism it’s actions can be justified with Kant’s moral position. Theranos was founded as a medical service that would be able to diagnose a patient with a variety of diseases with a simple prick of a finger. Holmes first came up with this idea while attending Stanford University, this idea was quickly shut down by every…

The best society is one in which every member is driven to lift an equal part, and no one is left with too little or too much of the weight. The books The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Never Let Me Go by Rebecca Skloot and Kazuo Ishiguro, respectively, illustrate the consequences of when this balance is broken. This arises as a result of the existence of people who give to, but do not receive from the common good. Contrary to how they function in these books, societies are most successful…

Consentimiento There have been several situations in history including what belongs to whom. There are more laws on possession than most people would be willing to count. Consent should be given as an official count of giving something significant over to another person, whether it be a car, house, or even organ donations. Not only is it illegal to take these things, it is incredibly immoral to do with or without a law. Before laws were implemented, doctors could take from their patients as they…