The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

A friend recommended this book to me -- great way to find good books! It's a book about many things -- ethics, accessibility and race in particular.  Hennrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer and treated at John Hopkins Hospital (a charity hospital) in 1951 and died shortly thereafter. In the course of her treatment, cell samples from her tumor were taken and cultured without her knowledge or consent. They became HeLa – the immortal line of cells that would change the world; advanced medical understanding of cancer and other diseases, and underpinning the polio vaccine, IVF, cloning, and more. The cells launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials but her family cannot afford health insurance.  Watch Book Trailer


Ethics:
Black Americans have had reason to distrust the medical profession; the history of experimentation exists on multiple fronts. Tuskegee Experiment was just one. There was no informed consent given by Henrietta or any family member. Her family never benefited from this huge industry or really never had much information about what had happened.

Accessibility: Americans, particularly the poor, still struggle with finding health care today.  Then, apparently, some doctors felt that since it was charity care, the donation of cells for research was a fair exchange. Hennrietta's family still doesn't have ready access to medical care.

Race:  The specter of a second tier of citzenship is also evident in this book.

Winner of numerous awards and prizes in 2010, this book is scheduled to be made into a HBO film by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball.