There have been many conflicts in the past in the medical field about violating patients’ privacy rights. In the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, there is an issue where her cells are taken to check what she went to the hospital for, yet, her cells weren’t only checked for that. Her cells were being transported, sold, and even injected into other people for experiments without any form of consent. The Skid Row Cancer Study and the Henrietta Lacks study are similar in the way that they both have some ethical issues having to do with consent. Around the 1950’s, Dr. Perry Hudson (a medical researcher from Columbia University) wanted to perform some prostate biopsies to see who had prostate cancer in Manhattan on 1,200. He …show more content…
They trusted the scientists so they thought they knew all they needed to know, but they didn’t know the most important. They didn’t know what would happen to their bodies after the experiment, they didn’t know that there would be possibilities of rectal tears or of impotence. (Kolata) If the biopsies came positive of prostate cancer, they would get a clean bed, 3 meals for a few days and free medicaid care and treatment. Also, being that they were positive for prostate cancer, a procedure would be performed where the prostate and possibly their testicles would be removed. Although, the procedure wasn’t proved to help their lives in the greatest way. Like in the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, they speak to Day about drawing his kids’ blood, but never told them actually for what. The whole time Deborah thought it was a test to see if they had cancer, which she was desperate to know her results; yet they drew their blood to check for the genetic marker (Skloot, page 185). The men got their prostates checked to see if they have prostate cancer, but they didn’t know what the side effects were (including rectal tears, impotence and even infections because of the biopsy), they didn’t know that they were going to experience
Is it right for one's life to be manipulated for the use of scientific research or is it just a evasion on the person's privacy. Henrietta Lacks was a African American with cells that intrigued many people, she was diagnosed with cancer leaving her to be cared for at her local hospital, where she would later die due to the extremity of the illness. While at the hospital she was unaware that the doctors there were experimenting on her taking cell samples from her body, to help find a resolution to multiple diseases. The people who examined Henrietta manipulated her and the rest of her family to gain information on her cellular structure to be ahead of others looking to achieve the same objective. Henrietta Lacks cells should have never been evaluated because it's an evasion of her freedom, a danger to her personal health, and cause conflicts.
The primary ethical issue is that doctors took Henrietta Lacks’ cells without permission. Doctor Gey forgot the patient and focused his attention on the research. Doctor Gey’s self- interest and quest for recognition allowed him to cross ethical boundaries. He took advantage of Henrietta Lacks when she was sick, vulnerable and in need of medical attention therefore, one must question his moral judgment.
On the other hand, let’s investigate a story on Dr. Atul Gawande a surgeon and New Yorker staff member, “More than a decade ago, I saw a young woman in the emergency room who had severe pelvic pain. A standard X-ray showed nothing. I examined her and found signs of pelvic inflammatory disease, which is most often caused by sexually transmitted diseases. She insisted that she hadn’t been sexually active, but I didn’t listen. If I had, I might have ordered a pelvic CT scan or even recommended exploratory surgery to investigate further.
First of all, the investigators should have respected the people they were going to conduct by obtaining an informed consent, letting the men decide if they want to be a participant after all. Second of all, medical researchers should not have lied to the people about how long this study was going to last. Third of all, both the risks and the benefits of it should have been stated to them so that the men could decide if this experiment is any beneficial to them or not. Lastly, the participants should have been randomly assigned to the control or experimental group without considering their race, class, and gender. Also, the medical researchers should not have the right to give the favored participants the helpful treatment rather than the riskier
They took them and didn’t ask.” This quote ties together much of the story behind the ethical issues surrounding these cells and the importance of informed consent, a privilege we now take for granted
Another moral and ethical issue brought on by the doctors of John Hopkins was when they retrieved tissue from Henrietta’s cervix without consent. Tissue that was later cultured and became the miraculous HeLa cells. Neither Henrietta nor her family gave their written or verbal consent for her cells to be used in Dr. Gey’s research. Later in the book, Skloot introduces her readers to a similar case of a man named John Moore. Moore also had tissue stolen from his body without consent that was later developed into a successful cell line.
Participation Portfolio 1 Asst 3: Henrietta Lacks Discussion Questions Please answers each of the following questions, and be prepared to discuss in class 1. Please outline the history of Henrietta Lacks 's tissue cells. Who did what with the cells, when, where and for what purpose? Who benefited, scientifically, medically, and monetarily?
The study would ultimately prove that everyone, no matter the color of their skin, is equal when it comes to the disease of syphilis. The intention behind manipulating the men was not for the greater good of society, but instead was for the greater good of Dr. Brodus and Miss Evers. Although the actions of Dr. Brodus and Miss Evers prove to be unethical, I also find the actions to be unprofessional. Miss Evers should have informed the men of the severity of the disease, as well as how the disease is passed from one individual to another. They failed to inform their patients of many of the risks that came along with the disease.
The origination of HeLa cells, used in biomedical research for a potential cure for cancer, had made many ground breaking discoveries in science; all thanks to one woman, Mrs. Henrietta Lacks. The history of Mrs. Lacks’s contribution to these studies raised many ethical issues concerning healthcare practice. In the short film, The Way of All Flesh, we learn how these cells were revealed by direct violation of ethical principles. During the 1950s, matters regarding informed consent practices were in their beginning stages of implementation.
An essential part of modern society relied on trust, especially the trust of doctors and scientists. People had the right to make an informed decision about their bodies and body parts. People had a right to their body parts, both attached and cell samples collected by doctors. The actions that the medical professions made will continue to affect future generations in both positive and negative ways. In the contemporary biographical novel, the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot used logical opinions to argue about the importance of consent to reveal the lack of morality from those in the medical field which continues to persist today.