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Why Is Henrietta Lacks Unethical

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Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman who, in 1951, underwent treatment for her cervix cancer. The doctors scraped her cervix and took two tissue samples - one healthy and one cancerous - and informed Lacks that they would be taken to a lab for processing. Little did she know, however, that the tissue samples from her body were being taken to research and not for her own benefit. Henrietta Lacks died months later due to her illness, but the cells that were harvested went on to globally revolutionize the bio-medical field, providing new insights in research on cancer, polio, gene mapping, the effects of radiation on the body, and much more, while her family never saw a dime. Was it unethical of the scientists to harvest these cells for research without Lacks’ consent, or were the millions of lives saved because of said decision worth the cost? It’s a mixed bag, in my opinion. …show more content…
Looking past this, however, the decision was also entirely unethical. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman living in the 1950’s, had little money, almost no formal education, and was in great pain due to her illness. The scientists had this woman sign a form of consent to go through with this procedure, without informing her of what was on the form, and without informing her that they would be taking samples of her tissue for extensive medical research. The job of the scientists were to cure her, and according to the “operation permit” she signed, in no place did it state that the doctors needed tissue samples from her. They were focused on finding immortal cells and making scientific advances, took advantage of this poor woman, and should have had more concern for their

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