Deborah's Dilemma Case Study Answers

Henrietta’s younger daughter, Deborah learned many things about her mother when she was confronted by Rebecca Skloot who was doing research on Henrietta’s life and treatment when she was sick. She read a book about HeLa cells and it mentioned her mother and her death. Deborah also managed to get ahold of Henrietta’s medical records and through those, she found her older sister, Elsie’s, location, but came to find out that she had passed away. Deborah learned that her mother’s cells were being cloned. One of the relieving facts that Deborah was told was that the cancer was not heritable and it was unlikely

Mary Kubicek went through the same procedure with Henrietta’s cells as she had done with hundreds before, writing HeLa on each of the vials of cells in culture. At the time, she was just taking the first two letters of Henrietta Lacks’ first and last names to make a short form, as was done with all of the other cells. Little did she know that the name she just wrote (HeLa) would soon be a common word in laboratories around the world. The Gey laboratory had been trying for years to get human cells to reproduce outside of the body, but most cells that they worked on died quickly and the few that didn’t, hardly grew at all. Some hours after placing the cells into the vials, Mary returned to check on them, not expecting anything to have happened, as had been the case hundreds of times before. When she looked in the vials, the cells had grown and started to reproduce, so she had to move some into new vials to let the cells have more room to grow. She told George Gey, but he didn’t want to get very excited since they still could die any minute. But the HeLa cells continued to grow, reproducing an entire generation every 24 hours, and they never

20 years after Henrietta had died, her family finally learned about Henrietta’s cells, and when they did they weren’t happy. Most of Henrietta’s family were upset that no one had told them about Henrietta’s cells and that there were corporations worth billions of dollars, because of Henrietta’s cells, when her family couldn’t even afford a doctor. Deborah and Rebecca (the author) worked together to find out more of Henrietta’s story, and for Henrietta to get recognition for Henrietta’s cells. Henrietta eventually started to get recognition and Deborah got to see Henrietta’s cells at John Hopkins. Henrietta’s family eventually forgave John Hopkins. And in the end they were just happy their mom saved so many lives. Deborah’s health starts to fail and she dies at the end of the book with a smile on her

Her family had realized that Henrietta had suffered and died, but her cells lived on and that her cells have helped so many people. Henrietta’s son said “I just hope Hopkins and some of the other folks who benefited off of her cells will do something in honor of her and make right with the family”(Skloot, pg. 328). Henrietta is finally getting recognized, which brought unwanted attention to the family from the media, doctors, and researchers that wanted a piece of the HeLa gene line. That affected her daughter, Deborah negatively because she never really knew her mother, but when Deborah first heard of the book she was very excited that the world would finally get to know her mother’s story.

So she then called David Lacks, husband of Henrietta, and he didn 't want anything to do with it either. After that she still didn 't give up, so later in the future Deborah finally agreed to talk to her and now here Rebecca is with a book about Henrietta Lacks and it is very successful.

At this point, Deborah only wants to learn who her mother is besides her famous cells. Scientists have somewhat dehumanized Henrietta Lacks by naming her cells HeLa cells. This makes them sound like a lab experiment rather than a person which is what they’ve basically turned into. Deborah is not looking for revenge as would be expected, but instead wishes for her mother to be honored in the way she deserves. I think this takes an extreme amount of courage considering all the wrongs that have been done to her family. I think Deborah is one of the most righteous people i’ve heard of and deserves to be recognized. This passage makes me angry that the HeLa cell industry has made billions of dollars buts struggles to give anything at all to the person that made them rich. Furthermore, very few scientists have ever taken time to recognize Henrietta Lacks. It’s unbelievable that billions of dollars can save lives but can’t give a single penny to the family that made it all

Returned call to Ms Deborah Turner. She wanted to complain about a CW worker that did not allowed see her great-niece Astasia (2years old) and great-nephew, Odion (4 years old).

The distinction between a scientific and spiritual view of the cells becomes even more obscured late in the book. Specifically, when Deborah

Deborah was Henrietta's only surviving daughter and fourth child. Once Deborah found out about her mother spent most of her life just wondering of her mother’s death and wondering if what killed her mother may even be the death of her in the future. Deborah became very interested and maybe even a little obsessed with her mother and craved knowing and learn more and more about her mother every day. Deborah and Skloot became very close in the making of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”.

What is at stake for the key parties, including those who disagree with you? What is important to them?

Searing pain shot through Deborah Sampson, who dropped to the ground in agony, holding her thigh where she’d just been shot. Her fellow soldiers rushed over to help get Sampson to safety, but instead she resisted and started to scream at them to let her die in fear of the patriots finding out her true gender. Women weren’t supposed to be up on the battlefront like men, although some, like Sampson, cross-dressed as a man. Deborah Sampson became a respected soldier in the Revolutionary War who tried her best to not let her true gender be discovered.

To some, she only exists as Hela; subsequently, she has transformed into an abstraction to the world. An idea. A concept. Not human. It was during the autopsy of Henrietta that Mary, Gey’s assistant, saw her as more than a specimen, recalling the thought, “Oh jeez, she’s a real person” (91). Henrietta, indeed, was real and had many treasures that defined her. From her family to the simple joys of life, such as her vibrant red nail polish. But still, Henrietta’s children combined to create her greatest treasure. They were the center of her entire life, and continually put their needs ahead of her own. Henrietta's dying wish that nothing “bad happen to the children when I’m gone” displays how those children were her true treasures. The way in which Henrietta’s children, especially Deborah, suffered after her death would contribute to the anguish that Henrietta and her family faced through her

so it’s their legacy it still lives on with them through their everyday lives today. They were affected by their mother’s death also because with so much attention being on their mothers that must have drastically changed her children’s lives greatly because they have an immortal mother.” Deborah Lacks was still in diapers, her 30-year-old mother, Henrietta Lacks, lay in a segregated ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The resident gynecologist sewed radium to her cervix in an attempt to knock out the cancer that was killing her” (Skloot 2). Bobbette Lacks, Henrietta Lacks 's daughter-in-law, says that if researchers had told them about HeLa cells, then informed them of future research, her family would have cooperated. But not now. ' 'I would never subject my kids to that, ' ' Bobbette Lacks said. Deborah(heLas daughter) was desperate to know about her mother 's cells. “We’ve got your wife. She’s alive in a laboratory. We’ve been doing research on her for the last 25 years. And now we have to test your kids to see if they have cancer.” (Skloot

Since this segment of the industry was easily influenced by economic conditions, the threat of substitutes was strong (Appendix C).

People from all walks of life face many ethical dilemmas. These dilemmas have consequences. Our worldview determines how we deal with these dilemmas, and guides us to the right decisions. In this essay, I will examine an ethical issues through my Christian worldview. I will also present other viewpoints, and compare them to mine.