Kaitlin Sullivan The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

AP Language and Composition Summer Reading

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a well researched novel written to teach the readers about ethical issues in medical research and the consequences of uninformed consent by telling the story of Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cells. To tell the story of Henrietta Lacks her cells, the author uses the perspectives of the doctors taking care of Henrietta, the researchers working on the HeLa cell chain and most importantly the perspective of the Lacks family. I understand that during the 1950's there was still discrimination between races, social class and gender, but I believe when it comes to someone's health and well being of their loved ones nothing should matter but them .

While reading this story about Henrietta Lacks, an African American women suffering from cervical cancer in the 1950's, I was appalled by how completely bias the medical staff at John Hopkins Hospital were towards Henrietta, the lack of respect towards her family after her death along with the lack of compensation the family received. It was evident that due to Henrietta's gender and race she was treated wrongly and was not giver proper medical treatment for her cancer. During Henrietta's treatments and operations, her surgeon Richard Wharton decided to take a few samples of her cervix without the permission of Henrietta or her family and that is where it all started. Those tissue samples were given to George Gey a cell culturist who after testing the cells noticed that they were not normal, but immortal. After Henrietta had passed, her cells, known as HeLa cells, became a major part of scientific research, helping create vaccines and other medical advancements. But on the other hand due to their race and economic status, Henrietta Lacks and the Lacks family were oppressed by doctors, researchers, and the media.

In the novel, the author Rebecca Skloot incorporated different perspectives for the readers to be able to understand all sides of the story. Personally I am strongly against the way the medical staff and researchers of John Hopkins Hospital and other scientist who worked on HeLa treated not only Henrietta but the Lacks family. The doctors at John Hopkins oppressed Henrietta by taking her cells and Richard TeLinde and George Gey used them to their advantage. The worst part about taking her cells was that she gave them no consent to do so. The doctors and researchers took advantage of Henrietta and the rest of the Lacks family because they were colored and of lower class. Even if Richard TeLinde did ask permission to take her tissues Henrietta would probably not have say because of those reasons. One would think that after TeLinde and Gey found out about her cells were special they would tell Henrietta and her family, but they didn't. According to the novel, at the start of this controversy taking someone's cancer cells for research was a routine operation but that should not excuse what the medical staff had done. I think the worst thing the staff at John Hopkins Hospital did was not letting the Lacks family know about the situation of the cells.

Much of the story focused on the problems of the Lacks family faced with dealing with losing their loved one early in life and the HeLa cell chain. Henrietta's children and the rest of her family did not find out about the HeLa cells until 25 years after it all started and they found out from a friend, not someone involved with the cells. A lot of the anxiety and drama the Lacks family encountered after they found out about what happened to Henrietta's cells could have been avoided if someone would have explained what the scientist were doing to them. Her children suffered enough growing up without a mother and as soon as they are into their adult years they hear about their mothers cells. As I read, it didn't appear to me that Henrietta's children had problem with the doctors taking her cells without consent, but they were angered at the fact that they had little knowledge of the situation of the cells and that they were not being financially compensated for the sale of the HeLa cells. Not one of the people working on the cells had reached out to the Lacks family to explain what Henrietta's cells had accomplished in the medical world and when scientist did talk to them about the cells it was a vague explanation that did not teach them anything. Just one simple explanation could have made all the difference.

Henrietta's daughter Deborah seemed to have suffered the most after hearing about her mother's cells. Growing up without a mother must have been hard enough to handle, but dealing with understanding her mothers cause of death and the HeLa cell chain made her anxieties worse. Deborah tried very hard to understand what Henriettas cells had done and how they were able to do what they had accomplished. One scientist that Deborah met with for an explanation gave her a book to learn about them on her own instead of sitting her down to teach her. Trying as hard as she could, she was not able to understand anything because it was written in science terms. Deborah had a limited education in general but especially in science which is why she could not understand anything this book had to say. Due to the fact that Deborah wasnt taught properly about her mothers cancer and her cell chain, Deborah worried every day that she would get the caner her mother had and the same thing would happen to her. Also, because Deborah knew nothing about that happened she never wanted to talk to the press and authors like Rebecca. It took a long time for Deborah to trust Rebecca with writing a novel about her mothers story and live without extreme anxiety. Everything that Deborah had to deal with all branches back to not being properly taught about her mothers cell story by the medical staff at John Hopkins Hospital. Henriettas sons Zakariyya, Sonny and Lawrence were also deeply affected by their mothers death. Growing up without a mother their childhood was difficult and they got in to trouble, some more than others. When her sons found out about the cells they were not angry that they were taken but that they were angry that they were not getting money from them. They found out that the cells were being sold millions at a time and that the Lacks family was getting no compensation whatsoever. They tried many times to sue and get money but it never happened. Just a small chunk of money would have been able to pay for medical insurance and allow the Lacks family to live a little easier. I think the least that the scientist working on the cells could do is give a small portion of money to the family of the one responsible for their success in the medical field.

Many people believe that Henrietta and the Lacks family were not taken advantage of by the John Hopkins Hospital medical staff. I think they are completely incorrect. They say that since the cells were no longer a part of Henrietta, her family should have no right to them. Throughout the book, it says that a part of Henrietta lived on because of the HeLa cells so obviously they were a part of Henrietta. The Lacks family did not want ownership of the cells; they wanted money which I think they deserve. The real problem was that Henrietta and her family was not given a chance to give real consent to the cells. Due to not giving any consent at all the researchers and scientist should have helped the family more with understanding what has occurred with the cells and with financial compensation. The family was exploited by the media because of the scientific advancements that the cells contributed to which made things worse. Everyone in the Lacks family were amazed and proud of what Henriettas cells had done for people and how they had a major impact on medical advancements but it would all be better with some money and understanding from the start. The racial and social divide between the John Hopkins Hospital staff and the Lacks family allowed the Hopkins staff to withhold important information from them. This was largely apparent in Henriettas case and how her loved ones were clueless about the HeLa cell chain for over twenty-five years. If the doctors and researchers had been honest with the Lackses and explained what the cells were accomplishing in world, much stress and problems would have been spared. The author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot incorporated many perspectives into the novel help the readers to better understand Henriettas story. As I read, I could see the Rebecca Skloot seemed partial towards Henrietta and the rest of the Lacks family and I think she choose the right side. What the staff of John Hopkins Hospital did to Henrietta and the rest of the Lacks family and the pain they went through because of it was uncalled for and unjust. With the help of Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta finally got the recognition she deserved and people finally were able to learn the true story of Henrietta and the HeLa cells.