Henrietta Lacks Paper Essay Example
Who should profit from the HeLa cells in particular, and medical advances in general? Does the Lacks family have any claim to the money that has been made from HeLa?
Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater one. ~Chinese Proverb
I find the question of who should reek the benefits of the HeLa cells in the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to be not just be a simple he or she answer (if that makes any sense), but I find this question really asks something deeper. The questions I believe this is asking us is if it was legal for dr. George Otto Gey to do what he did and if so was it morally and ethically correct to for him to do so. As for the claim question, two questions really have to be answered, and they are: I.) Do the Lacks legally have any claim to the money that was profited from the HeLa cells? II.) Do the Lacks morally (without legal matters being taken into consideration) have a claim to the money that was profited from the HeLa cells?
Legally Right or Wrong
Now to elaborate on the legal aspects of this question; was it legally acceptable for the HeLa cells to be taken without Henrietta’s permission/knowledge and used for research and profit? From an excerpt from the Columbia Science and Law Technology Review it gives a similar case that was argued in the Supreme Court (circa 1980’s). In the following excerpt it will show the more than likely ruling to a HeLa case (had one taken place).
Given the current state of the law, the Henrietta Lackses of the world have a hard argument to make if they believe they deserve a share of the profits. In a similar case in the 1980s, researchers removed the spleen of John Moore as part of his leukemia treatment. Recognizing the unique scientific and financial potential of Moore’s particular cancerous cells, his doctor promptly developed a cell line from the extracted lymphocytes, patented the line, and licensed it for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The doctor also gathered
Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater one. ~Chinese Proverb
I find the question of who should reek the benefits of the HeLa cells in the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to be not just be a simple he or she answer (if that makes any sense), but I find this question really asks something deeper. The questions I believe this is asking us is if it was legal for dr. George Otto Gey to do what he did and if so was it morally and ethically correct to for him to do so. As for the claim question, two questions really have to be answered, and they are: I.) Do the Lacks legally have any claim to the money that was profited from the HeLa cells? II.) Do the Lacks morally (without legal matters being taken into consideration) have a claim to the money that was profited from the HeLa cells?
Legally Right or Wrong
Now to elaborate on the legal aspects of this question; was it legally acceptable for the HeLa cells to be taken without Henrietta’s permission/knowledge and used for research and profit? From an excerpt from the Columbia Science and Law Technology Review it gives a similar case that was argued in the Supreme Court (circa 1980’s). In the following excerpt it will show the more than likely ruling to a HeLa case (had one taken place).
Given the current state of the law, the Henrietta Lackses of the world have a hard argument to make if they believe they deserve a share of the profits. In a similar case in the 1980s, researchers removed the spleen of John Moore as part of his leukemia treatment. Recognizing the unique scientific and financial potential of Moore’s particular cancerous cells, his doctor promptly developed a cell line from the extracted lymphocytes, patented the line, and licensed it for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The doctor also gathered