For October 14, read the first two sections of the book (to page 176) and answer this question. We will discuss the rest of the book when we meet again on October 18.
The passage in which the initial fated cells were removed from Henrietta Lacks’s body reads as follows (see page 33):
“With Henrietta unconscious on the operating table in the center of the room, her feet in stirrups, the surgeon on duty, Dr. Lawrence Wharton, Jr., sat on a stool between her legs. He peered inside Henrietta, dilated her cervix, and prepared to treat her tumor. But first – though no one had told Henrietta that TeLinde was collecting samples or asked if she wanted to be a donor – Wharton picked up a sharp knife and shaved two dime-sized pieces of tissue from Henrietta’s cervix: one from her tumor, and one from the healthy cervical tissue nearby. Then he placed the samples in a glass dish.”
Keep in mind that what was done with Henrietta Lacks was not illegal. Many of the laws around informed consent were born out of violations done in the past. But back in 1951, this was not a crime.
Do you think it was wrong of Dr. Wharton to remove the sample tissue in the first place? Was it wrong for Dr. Gey to collect those samples for the purpose of trying to grow them in controlled conditions?
Does the end – i.e., the immeasurable benefit to humankind resulting from those tissue samples – justify the means – i.e., removing tissue from a person without their consent or knowledge?
