...Henrietta was allowed to seek medical attention only in the “Blacks only” section of John Hopkins hospital. Henrietta and others black patients had to cope with unethical and unjust behaviors. Dr. Wesley TeLinde and other physicians’ involved in Henriette story took the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath that all physicians required to do no harm and maximize the good while minimizing the bad, such that proportionally the doing of the good outweighs the potential harm. Bioethics is a study of ethical and moral choices faced in medical research and in the treatment of patients (Bing Dictionary, n.d.). Bioethics takes a stand for what is right or wrong. It’s a subdivision of ethics and stands in conjunction with many other theories of ethics, such as Kantian deontology. Kant believed that inclinations, emotions and consequences should play no role in moral actions. This means that the motivation for action must be based on obligation. Mills utilitarianism, the foundation of utility or the greatest happiness principle. The practice of Dr. Wesley TeLinde taking cells from patients is debated between these two theories. His decision to take cells were ethically obscured. Alternatively, they were able to change medical history with HeLa cells, and the physicians felt their actions were for the greater good. However, from Henrietta’s...
Words: 1571 - Pages: 7
...Lack of Human Rights In the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks it speaks of the life of Henrietta and how her cancerous cells have made the medical field much larger and more advanced. But did George Gey take her cells with good intent to help mankind, or was it selfish and greedy of him to go and take what he needed from his patient for his own experiment? This is completely wrong and disrespectful because he literally stole something from her without any form of consent whatsoever. He knew very well that he would be able to get away with it because he is a doctor. When a situation like this occurs it becomes a problem since it comes down to human rights and the need of the scientific community. Human rights should always come first, no matter what the case may be. Most if not all of the things that people did to Henrietta were wrong. The people had a good mind set to try to advance the medical field so that it could be more beneficial to mankind. But, it is only a matter of what extent you can go trying to do so, like injuring or killing someone in the process. In the book, Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, they actually point out what they are doing wrong and that they try to convince themselves that what they are doing is right. They tell you “Like many doctors of this era, Telinde often used patients from the public wards for research, usually without their knowledge” (Rebecca Skloot 29-30). You can clearly see that they are using people like lab rats and show minimal care...
Words: 1024 - Pages: 5
