The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Medicine
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Medicine
Book Type: Paperback
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
A thoughtful, sad and telling chronicle of the life of a 1950s black woman living in the Baltimore, Maryland area serviced by the Johns Hopkins Hospital. (Keep in mind that Johns Hopkins Hospital was originally funded to provide medical care for the poor regardless of color, etc).
The bio sketch relates: Doctors took her cells without as
king. Those cells never died. They launched a medical revolution and a multimillion dollar industry. More than 20 years later, her children found out. Their lives would never be the same
As succinctly as possible that short intro tells the story of this American tragedy.
As early as 1914 Justice Benjamin Cardozo, New York State Court of Appeals wrote:
"Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body; and a surgeon who performs an operation without his patient's consent commits an assault, for which he is liable in damages.
I know that this rule of law, since it applies in the area of Medical Malpractice, may not exactly apply to Ms. Lacks and her family, but when you factor in that her original cancer was misdiagnosed it bares consideration. Moreover, when you agree that the ends do not justify the means, the question arises why was her rights, dignity and well-being of her final days and the afterlife of her children and husband so cavalierly abused? I guess only the pharmaceutical companies can answer that question.
This book, while difficult to read and accept should be on your list of things to read this summer and then to reflect on how far have we come in treating all Americans equally.
A thoughtful, sad and telling chronicle of the life of a 1950s black woman living in the Baltimore, Maryland area serviced by the Johns Hopkins Hospital. (Keep in mind that Johns Hopkins Hospital was originally funded to provide medical care for the poor regardless of color, etc).
The bio sketch relates: Doctors took her cells without as
king. Those cells never died. They launched a medical revolution and a multimillion dollar industry. More than 20 years later, her children found out. Their lives would never be the same
As succinctly as possible that short intro tells the story of this American tragedy.
As early as 1914 Justice Benjamin Cardozo, New York State Court of Appeals wrote:
"Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body; and a surgeon who performs an operation without his patient's consent commits an assault, for which he is liable in damages.
I know that this rule of law, since it applies in the area of Medical Malpractice, may not exactly apply to Ms. Lacks and her family, but when you factor in that her original cancer was misdiagnosed it bares consideration. Moreover, when you agree that the ends do not justify the means, the question arises why was her rights, dignity and well-being of her final days and the afterlife of her children and husband so cavalierly abused? I guess only the pharmaceutical companies can answer that question.
This book, while difficult to read and accept should be on your list of things to read this summer and then to reflect on how far have we come in treating all Americans equally.
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