The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
402 pages. Published 2010
Amazon: 4.5 stars
Me: 4 stars

In 1951 a poor, black woman named Henrietta Lacks went in to Johns Hopkins Hospital to have her cervical cancer surgically removed. When the doctors took her cancer, one researcher also took her cells, put them in a petri dish, and labeled them HeLa. He had been trying to grow human cells outside the body for a long time. And, for the first time, researchers could grow human cells. The HeLa cells helped to come up with a cure for polio, they were instrumental in gene mapping, have been in space, billions have been sold, and have been instrumental in research.

The issue in this book is not the medical advances, but the fact that Henrietta Lacks had these cells taken, and then sold without her knowledge or permission. On her deathbed, the doctor who took her cells did tell her they were going to do good things with her cells and she smiled. But, research was conducted and published without many people even knowing her name.  Her own family didn't know for years.

Back in the 50s doctors didn't have to get patients permission. They didn't have to tell individuals about the risks of procedures and surgeries. Doctors were seen as all-knowing and not to be questioned. They didn't have HIPPA or release forms. The Hippocratic Oath doctors take (do no harm to patients, etc) had only been written about ten years prior and was only a nice suggestion.

Medicine was different back then. But, when Henrietta's family found out about their mother's cells they were highly offended. Most black people were already suspicious of Johns Hopkins Hospital. The rumors were that the hospital took poor black people off the streets to performs tests on them. The Lacks family felt the hospital took advantage of them. No one asked them or their mother about the cells. No one told them about the research. And, mainly, they felt as though many people profited from their mother without them seeing a dime.

This book not only told about much of the medical breakthroughs that came from Henrietta's cells, but, and most importantly, it told the reader what kind of person Henrietta was, and who her children and grandchildren have become.

This book was fascinating and very information dense. It took me longer than it typically does to read a 400 page book. At times I felt, "how could they do this?" and "what were they thinking?" But, laws weren't in place to govern doctors and they were just doing the best they could. I do wish that some of the money companies, hospitals, and researchers made from the HeLa cells had been given to the family. Henrietta's children were poorly educated, and couldn't afford to go to the doctor. It was really sad. Their feelings were hurt. They didn't understand the science. All they had were rumors and skepticism.

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