In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital. Henrietta complained of a knot in her womb that caused her pain so she decided to visit the hospital in search of diagnosis. After being diagnosed with cervical cancer, the doctor recommended a biopsy be done on her cancerous tissue. Without any consent, Henrietta’s doctors took tissue samples from her cervix and attempted to grow them and keep them alive. These cells were known as HeLa cells, they began to grow at an unbelievable rate; The HeLa cell became vital for the development of vaccines and other scientific research. However because of Henrietta’s race and economic standpoint, Henrietta Lacks and the rest of the Lacks family was exploited by doctors. The exploitation of the family allowed the doctors and researchers to benefit scientifically and monetarily. …show more content…
The chapter talks about her youth, she grew up in the small town of Clover, Virginia. She lived with Day (her cousin), later marrying him. Just months after her fourteenth birthday, Day and Henrietta had their first child together; Lawrence. Four years later, Lucile Elsie Pleasant is born, she was different then the other children, according to Skloot (2010) “To the folks in Lacks Town, she was just simple. Touched.” (pg. 23). Later on, Lucile was diagnosed with a real diagnosis –
That diagnosis was epilepsy, mental retardation, and neurosyphillis. Henrietta seems to be like an average person back then, it was deemed acceptable to marry cousins back in that time so nothing else seems that out of the ordinary about Henrietta. Henrietta just got unlucky when they decided to take her cells from her cancerous
Henrietta struggled with pain, bumps on her cervix, and abnormal bleeding. Henrietta was admitted into Johns Hopkins Hospital and was diagnosed with cancer in her cervix. Failing to mention her illness to her family, Henrietta began treatment at the hospital and her doctor was more than happy to help her due to his ulterior motive which was to use her
African-American Henrietta Lacks was a mother of 5 children who was diagnosed with a malignant tumor of rather large size that was located in her cervix. This was said to be cervical cancer. She attended John Hopkins Hospital to be treated. She is famous for her cancer cells, HeLa. Dr. Gey’s took samples of each person’s cells who had cervical cancer who came to this hospital. Henrietta Lacks’ cancer cells were not like anyone else’s cells; they did not die in Dr. Gey’s lab. Her cells actually grew twice in size about every day. I do not think she was treated fairly because her family did not profit from all of the discoveries since it has had such a big impact on the medical field still today.
Henrietta Lacks was born on the first day of August in 1920. She was an African American woman who grew up in southern Virginia where she worked on her grandfather’s tobacco farm along with many of her cousins. At the age of fourteen, Henrietta married her first cousin, Day Lacks, and together they moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Henrietta had five children over the next fifteen years. On the first of February in 1951, at the age of 30, Henrietta went to the Johns Hopkins Gynaecology Clinic for symptoms of spotting between her menstrual periods. A doctor at the hospital named Howard Jones examined her and found nothing unusual. Six weeks later, Henrietta returned to the hospital, complaining of abdominal pain. Dr. Jones saw her again, and when
The National institute of Health, Rebecca Skloot, and John Hopkins Hospital have distorted Henrietta Lacks Legacy. In 1951, the Johns Hopkins Hospital took cervical cancer cells from Henrietta Lacks, and developed the HeLa cell line. Neither Henrietta nor her family gave the hospital permission to use her cells at the time. Her cells contributed to major medical discoveries, including the development of polio vaccine. Henrietta’s family was never compensated for the money that they made off of her cells. It was not until 1973 that her children discovered, by accident, that their mother's cells, now immortalized, had become a major boon to medicine and that many people had become rich from marketing them. Ron Henrietta’s
The Lacks family was greatly taken advantage of in the 1950s because of their race, lack of education, and social class. The family believes they should be compensated with a donation given the amount of money Henrietta’s cells were worth. Her cells were sold all over the world for a large sum of money. Additionally, several scientific discoveries were uncovered because of Henrietta’s cells. The new knowledge has no price. However the family is continuing to look for a donation. The Lock’s family should not receive monetary compensation for her donation because it there were laws in place at the time preventing patients from suing hospitals regarding interactions with cells and other things.
Henrietta Lacks was born in Roanoke, Virginia on August 1, 1920. After 1924 when Henrietta's mother Eliza died giving birth to tenth child. Henrietta and her siblings where taken to her fathers hometown, clover. When all of the siblings arrived at clover they had to be divided and split up to live with different relatives in different homes. Henrietta ended up with Tommy Lacks, her grandfather and her cousin David Lacks also known as Day. As Henrietta grew older, she began to draw attention from he cousins Day and Joe. Since she had been sharing a room with Day ever since she got there she found herself pregnant with Day's child. At the age of fourteen she gives birth to her first child, Lawrence and at the age of eighteen she has her second
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, is about a poor African American Women named Henrietta Lacks, better known as “HeLa” to the rest of the world, whose Cells taken, unbeknownst to her, revolutionized the medical field. Henrietta, originally named Loretta Pleasant, was born on August 1, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia. After her mother’s death when she was 4 years old, her father felt incapable of taking care of her, so she was given to her grandfather and raised an old plantation house with her fist cousin, whom she ended up marrying and having four children with. Her story really starts in 1951, after she went to Johns Hopkins Hospital because of what she described a “knot” inside her. Turns out she had adenocarcinoma of the cervix (cancer of the cervix) which caused the formation of many tumors. During the treatment of her Cervical Cancer, without her consent, two tissue samples of her cervix were removed. After examination of these samples, Dr. George Otto Gey observed something “never seen
brown skin. Who died of cervical cancer in 1951 but a few months before her
Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who was born on August 1, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia. She lived with her mother until the age of four and then she moved in with her uncle on a tobacco plantation after her death. While staying there she ended up sharing a room with her first cousin David “Day” Lacks, after sharing a room with him for many years, in 1935 Henrietta had their first child at the age of fourteen, they named him Lawrence, then, four years later they had their second child Elsie and then in 1941 they were married.
Henrietta Lack was born on August1, 1920 in Roanoke , VA . As she moved on in life she became the wife of David “Day” Lacks in 1935. The two eventually moved to Maryland and had four children Elsie, David Jr., Deborah, and Joseph. One day Henrietta was
Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Her doctor at Johns Hopkins hospital took her tissues without informing her and grew them. When she died her tissue became HeLa cells which became the key to science research creating vaccines and medications. Race In the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was exploited by the doctors. It was a major issue and the doctors took advantage of their patients to receive what they wanted. It left people like Henrietta and her family uninformed because blacks were forbidden to ask questions.
Henrietta Lacks was a strong-willed, compassionate women that had a love for life. She always put her family first, not only her immediate family but her extended family as well. She never complained, worked hard and fought up until her death. She was humbled and lived a selfless life.
Consent Granted In 1951, a young woman named Henrietta Lacks with cervical cancer had her tumor surgically removed by John Hopkins University. After Henrietta’s tumor was removed, the doctor performing her surgery scraped a tissue sample into a Petri dish, without her consent, to be used in medical research. What was discovered was that Henrietta’s cells were immortal; they continued to reproduce time and time again. Her cells were vital for gene mapping and to cure polio, saving millions of lives. However, if the scientists had asked for consent, Henrietta could have said no, costing millions their lives.
Henrietta was overall a morally good person even though she had kids out of wedlock at the age of 14, with her cousin, Day. She lived in a poor town where it was common for people to marry in the family. Henrietta's mom, Eliza Lacks, died giving birth to her tenth child. Her father with little patience to raise kids, distributed Henrietta and her siblings amongst the family. Henrietta ended up with her grandpa, who already had another grandchild living with him named David Lacks (also known as Day). Henrietta and Day eventually married "alone at their preacher's house on April 10, 1941" (24). Henrietta was a loving mother of five children: three boys and two girls. She had a daughter named Elsie, with mental retardation and epilepsy.
In the second half of the book, the author explores the life of Henrietta’s family and the destiny of her cells after her death. Henrietta’s children suffered a horrible fate after the passing of their mother. Their cousin Ethel moved in under the pretenses of wanting to care for them. She underfeed them, subjected them to hard laborious task, and cruel beatings, especially focusing her attention on Joe. Also, Deborah had to deal with Ethel’s husband Galen making inappropriate advances on her. This lead to Joe living an angry life and Dale being considered mean and undesirable amongst her family members. Though, the Lacks children did not just have a hard time growing up, but suffered inherited deafness. It is discussed that Henrietta’s husband suffered from cancer and lung problems, her son had a bad heart, and Deborah had a list of conditions ranging from arthritis to depression. However,