Lee 1 Harrison Lee Mrs.

Pryzgoda Period 3 AP Biology 8/27/13

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Essay Question #3: Why do you think George Gey gave out so many HeLa cells for free? In the early 1950s, the US was experiencing an ever accelerating rate of extensive scientific research. As researchers in the medical field began increasing their eagerness to learn more of the workings of disease and ascertain ways to prevent them, the need for experimental guinea pigs arose. Curiosity led scientists all across the country to try creating the first dependable immortal cell line for medical research. Introduction of the first immortal cells by the head of Hopkins tissue culture research George Gey using cancerous cells extracted from the unknowing African American patient Henrietta Lacks would instigate great controversy decades after their creation in 1951. However, prior to the involvement of Henriettas family, Gey shipped He La cells for free to friends and colleagues with little concern. Due to the lack of an enforced law of informed consent, along with racial discrimination, Gey distributed the HeLa cells in large quantities. It is evident that there was no emphasized importance in the informed consent procedure that a doctor would have to give to their patient prior to any medical examination. Despite the requirements for patients to sign a consent form, doctors specified little of what they would do to them. In fact, many doctors did whatever they wanted on some people based on their scientific needs. According to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, the consent form that Henrietta signed said, I hereby give consent to the staffto perform any operation proceduresthat may deem necessary in the proper surgical care and treatment of _______. (Skloot 31). Although Henrietta signed the form, the operation procedures mentioned had to be necessary in the proper treatment of her cancerous cervix. Quite obviously, the removal of a portion of her cancerous cervical tissue for Geys research purposes was not for the sake of Henriettas health. In a sense, the consent form meant little for how the patient would be treated

Lee 2 by the doctor. George Gey believed that distributing his newly developed HeLa cells would not be detrimental, so he most likely gave them out in large quantities without worrying about any complications. Gey had no objections from others about HeLa only until the Lacks family found out about them after his death in 1970. Not until more issues concerning medical research such as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, leading to the Belmont Report on 1978 was it visible that Geys actions in 1951 may have had consequences. Into the 1990s, Supreme Court cases such as Moore v. Regents of the University of California further raised the publics attention about informed medical consent. The racial background of Henrietta Lacks also contributed to George Geys lack of consideration for the whereabouts of her cancer cells. Throughout her treatment prior to death, it was evident that she was treated not only at a later stage of cancer, but also that Henrietta was treated with less proficiency than a white patient would generally have been. Skloot, in her book, mentions that black people never questioned white peoples professional judgment even when they still felt discomfort with their treatment. Up to the point when Henrietta was obviously in deteriorating condition, one of the doctors wrote, the patient looks chronically ill. She obviously is in pain. He sent her home to bed. (Skloot 64). The actions of the doctors toward diagnosing Henriettas cancer were insincere and demonstrated lack of concern for the metastasizing cancer. In a sense, Gey did not think of distributing the cells of a black person would hurt his career. Poor treatment of black people is also seen in the case with the night doctors, which Henriettas family told Skloot about doctors who would abduct black people at night and do experiments on them. According to Skloot, Since at least the 1800s, black oral history has been filled with tales of night doctors who kidnapped black people for research. And there were disturbing truths behind these stories. (Skloot 165). On an even more magnified scale, one can see the similarity between medical experimenting on blacks with the cruel human experimentations performed by Dr. Mengele during the Holocaust era. Similar to how the night doctors treated blacks, Mengele did various experiments on patients at the Auschwitz camp by exposing them purposely to disease, harsh environments, amputating their limbs, along with various other inhumane acts. Through night doctors and Dr. Mengele, one can clearly see that they had absolutely no concern for the patients well-being. Thus, one can logically infer that careless diagnosis of Henriettas cancer would mean that her cancer cells post-mortem would be handled without consideration of the person who inherited them.

Lee 3 Despite being considered unethical concerning the treatment of Henriettas cells, fair and equal treatment of patients was unheard of in the 1950s. Although she signed a consent form, Gey took samples of her tumors for his own research without her knowledge. In addition, he shipped the HeLa cells to laboratories and colleagues nationwide for free, which would ultimately lead to the issue with Henriettas family. Due to neglected consent forms by the doctors and racial discrimination, it can be seen that Henriettas body was not a priority. Therefore, George Gey gave out so many of his HeLa cells for free since he did not see any consequences in sharing his creation.