Letter to Johns Hopkins Hospital
Johns Hopkins Hospital,
After reading various articles and the novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot, I feel that you certainly owe Henrietta Lacks and her family an apology for the way that they had been treated. From the moment Henrietta Lacks had innocently walked into your hospital expecting to be able to trust her doctors, she was immediately exploited and taken advantage of. Henrietta was tested on and cut open for procedures without her consent. Even after she had passed away, your hospital continued to take advantage of her and her family by running blood tests on her them without them having knowledge of what they were being done for, and having Henrietta’s husband sign consent forms without explaining to him what they were for, so that he could understand what was going on. Instead, the Lacks Family remained clueless of Henrietta’s cells, her legacy, and what this hospital had been doing to them. This family deserved to be treated with respect no matter the color of their skin, where they came from, or their level of education. They should have been treated like any other Caucasian patient as opposed to the hospital confining them to the “black” wing of the hospital as if they were quarantined from the rest of the world.
To this day, I still do not understand the logic behind George Gey and Henrietta’s doctors in that they could not simply explain what they were testing Henrietta for, and at least explain to her the rarity of her cells. Simple consent or aknowledgement seems so simple to have done as a sign of respect. In my eyes, recognition should be given to the Lacks family and Henrietta for her stolen contribution to science. It seems that the HeLa cell line has made so much money ever since they were taken from her body. So, if this is the case, there is no reason why the Lacks family should not receive the money that they deserve, and this does not explain why the hospital should not recognize her importance through dedication of part of their hospital to her name. These acts of kindness seem simple compared to the expansion physically and economically of her cells throughout the world. As the Lacks Family told Rebecca Skloot in one of the hundreds of interviews that took place, they do not understand why Henrietta’s cells are making millions of dollars, while they live in poverty with various health issues and not even enough money for health insurance. The morals of the scientists from Johns Hopkins hospital behind all of the treatments and diagnoses of Henrietta Lacks is incredible to me. I still cannot seem to understand how even though there were no strict laws on the matter, these scientists could continue their life’s work with the scientific ethics and morals that had caused Henrietta her life and eventually, the downfall of her family.
Henrietta Lacks was a real person just like us, with emotions, daily routines, red-painted nails, and a family depending on her at home. However, in laboratories worldwide, she continues to sit in dishes labeled HeLa, while the researchers have little knowledge of who she really was. Even in science textbooks, her name seems to appear with a couple of words on her diagnosis, but what about her life? Although Rebecca Skloot has tried to expand the story of Henrietta’s life through her book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I know that Henrietta deserves more.
Sincerely,
Katie Chaplin
After reading various articles and the novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot, I feel that you certainly owe Henrietta Lacks and her family an apology for the way that they had been treated. From the moment Henrietta Lacks had innocently walked into your hospital expecting to be able to trust her doctors, she was immediately exploited and taken advantage of. Henrietta was tested on and cut open for procedures without her consent. Even after she had passed away, your hospital continued to take advantage of her and her family by running blood tests on her them without them having knowledge of what they were being done for, and having Henrietta’s husband sign consent forms without explaining to him what they were for, so that he could understand what was going on. Instead, the Lacks Family remained clueless of Henrietta’s cells, her legacy, and what this hospital had been doing to them. This family deserved to be treated with respect no matter the color of their skin, where they came from, or their level of education. They should have been treated like any other Caucasian patient as opposed to the hospital confining them to the “black” wing of the hospital as if they were quarantined from the rest of the world.
To this day, I still do not understand the logic behind George Gey and Henrietta’s doctors in that they could not simply explain what they were testing Henrietta for, and at least explain to her the rarity of her cells. Simple consent or aknowledgement seems so simple to have done as a sign of respect. In my eyes, recognition should be given to the Lacks family and Henrietta for her stolen contribution to science. It seems that the HeLa cell line has made so much money ever since they were taken from her body. So, if this is the case, there is no reason why the Lacks family should not receive the money that they deserve, and this does not explain why the hospital should not recognize her importance through dedication of part of their hospital to her name. These acts of kindness seem simple compared to the expansion physically and economically of her cells throughout the world. As the Lacks Family told Rebecca Skloot in one of the hundreds of interviews that took place, they do not understand why Henrietta’s cells are making millions of dollars, while they live in poverty with various health issues and not even enough money for health insurance. The morals of the scientists from Johns Hopkins hospital behind all of the treatments and diagnoses of Henrietta Lacks is incredible to me. I still cannot seem to understand how even though there were no strict laws on the matter, these scientists could continue their life’s work with the scientific ethics and morals that had caused Henrietta her life and eventually, the downfall of her family.
Henrietta Lacks was a real person just like us, with emotions, daily routines, red-painted nails, and a family depending on her at home. However, in laboratories worldwide, she continues to sit in dishes labeled HeLa, while the researchers have little knowledge of who she really was. Even in science textbooks, her name seems to appear with a couple of words on her diagnosis, but what about her life? Although Rebecca Skloot has tried to expand the story of Henrietta’s life through her book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I know that Henrietta deserves more.
Sincerely,
Katie Chaplin
