The Unethical Approach to Immortality

Clint Stoeck prof Kelly History 1302 19 October 2012 HeLa The Unethical Approach to Immortality Henrietta Lacks is, one of the greatest contri providedors aesculapian science and inquiry in the past century. Albeit, she never knew of her contribution. In fact, it took twenty dollar bill years for her family to be informed about the extensive number of cells that had been experienced, and that would moodyer to be produced, to further studies in the best medical interest of mankind. The morality of this situation are hardly questionable and this is what The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot discusses.The blatant use of Henrietta Lacks tissue without her consent, while it was a huge proceeds to the medical field and mankind, was passing unethical and the lack of consent from her and her family wee-wee led to the questioning of the moral standards of the medical field. We see Henrietta Lacks and her family as an pillowcase of the apathy that the medical field exhibits during this time towards underprivileged mint and the long-wearing effects that it can have on society. The ordinal century was a rather confusing time for the medical field.We were always advancing and consistently on the verge of new technological capabilities. The medical revolution that transpired during the 20th century began to develop some unintended side effects though. morals began to take a back seat to the advancement of medical research and Henrietta Lacks fell victim to these unethical practices. When she discovered her biopsy results from the pathology lab Epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix, Stage I , she had the cancer removed. Henrietta was able to continue her life without a problem later on the removal and thus continued her life as it was, previously to the cancer.She did not know that the cancer had essentially been harvested, not fully removed, and employ to produce the largest supply of cells in existence. After Henrietta Lacks death, the use of her cells continued for years. They have been used as a medium for in vitro fertilization to polio vaccinations. unrivaled of the problems that make this situation questionable is the fact that Henrietta Lacks still died from this cancer. She was not helped but used as a genetic farm without knowing, until she expired. The other half(prenominal) of this situation is how Henrietta Lacks passed away which in this case, was excruciatingly painful.The doctors viewed her as a measly specimen and saw no need to examine her further. After Henriettas death, word traveled quickly the George Gey laboratory, where her cells where originally cultured. They froze her body and used it as a template to continue their research. They began mass producing her cells in a warehouse in Tuskegee at about twenty thousand vials per day. They began to profit off the production and tell not a word of it to Henriettas family because they would be legally entitled to a portion of the profits.Not only have they dishonored the body of Henrietta Lacks, they blatantly avoid telling the family about their activities after her death. In 1973, the Lacks family learned of their mothers past situation. They could not grasp the concept that the cells were not never-failing but replicated millions of times over. However, it seemed to be that all the brothers, in the family, cared about was receiving a portion of the profits made off Henriettas cells while the sisters were more than concerned about how their mothers medical records got into the hands of strangers.During this time, it was an upheld tenet that doctors practiced confidentiality with their patients but they were not legally obligated to do so. This moral dilemma plagued the twentieth century. Patients were only treated properly if they were high paying or highly regarded flock of white ethnicity while everyone underneath them were seen as borderline greaseball pigs for genetic testing. Henrietta Lacks situation and death, along with her familys treatment regarding their mother, is a microcosm to the morality and practices of the twentieth century.People cannot be seen as guinea pigs, but as people that need treatment and help. It is the duty and responsibility of the medical field to extend high moral and ethical standards and to maintain these standards. It appeared that, during the twentieth century, that the very people that medical field worked to help, were treated with little respect. Henrietta Lacks ordeal will military service as a lesson to the medical field in terms of ethics and responsibility towards their patients. 1 . Skloot, p. 8 2 . Skloot, p. 75