Ethical and Legal Principles Guiding Health Research Utilizing Human Tissue

Question

Instructions

Discussion: Can

Henrietta Lacks Show Us the Way?

Who owns your cells? When they are in your body,

it's not much of a question. But, does the answer change if they have been

taken for testing?

Henrietta Lacks was a 31-year-old mother of five

when she died in 1951 of a particularly fast-moving form of cervical cancer.

Doctors treating her at Johns Hopkins Hospital took samples of her cancer cells

for study. Ms. Lack's cell line was the first human cell line to grow in a lab

environment and went on to help develop the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, in

vitro fertilization, and much more.

Does the magnitude of these scientific

achievements outweigh the fact that doctors did not obtain consent from Ms.

Lacks?

In this Discussion, you will analyze the

Henrietta Lacks case, including the use of research results without informed

consent, by applying ethical and legal principles.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Review the Learning Resources related to the Henrietta

     Lacks case and the famous "HeLa" cell line.

Post a comprehensive response to the following:

In your opinion, who owns the results of health-related

     research (i.e., the cells, the cell lines)? Does it belong to the subject,

     the medical organization, the researcher, etc.? Support your rationale

     using ethical principles.

Should Henrietta Lacks' descendants receive

     compensation for the research conducted with HeLa cells and the

     advancements that stemmed from that research? Support your rationale with

     legal principles.

If Ms. Lacks had given informed consent, would your

     opinion change? Explain.

Note: Initial

postings must be 250-350 words (not including references).                                                                                                                

Support your Discussion and peer responses with

in-text citations and references