Kate Burke

Miss Schmidt

Honors English 11

April 30, 2019

Ethical Evaluation of the Treatment of Henrietta Lacks

“Ethics is a system for deciding what is right or wrong and what values should be” (BYU

1.1). People make decisions all types of ways, but in general, there are three main ways to

decide if an act is ethical. Using feelings and opinions, actions are often determined ethical by

how they help or hurt the people affected by that action. The greatest good method states that if

the greatest number of people are affected for the better, then the action is good. If more are

negatively affected, the action is less ethical. Using the golden rule, something is ethical if the

action is done unto others as they would have done to them. In the life of Henrietta Lacks, there

were many situations and misfortunes that upon evaluation could be deemed unethical. Some of

these misfortunes include the taking of her cells, her treatment during her illness, and her

family’s awareness during and after her life.

When Dr. Lawrence Wharton Jr. took Henrietta’s cells, it would have little to no impact

on Henrietta in that moment. She would not have been affected by the physical removal of her

cells. “Wharton picked up a sharp knife and shaved two dime sized piece of tissue from

Henrietta’s cervix: one from her tumor, and one from the healthy cervical tissue nearby” (Skloot

33). Many may argue that taking the cells without her consent was unethical, “however, at this

time in 1951, there was no laws pertaining to patient informed consent or ethical violations”

(Dineen). The physical taking of the cells was ethical according to the feelings and opinions
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method if ethical decision making because Henrietta would not be upset by the removal of her

cells. When Dr. Wharton took Henrietta’s cells, there was no way to know that Henrietta’s cells

were capable of being “immortal” as they were. At the time, it was not known that her cells

would go to benefit a, “greatest good”. It was for personal research and would not benefit the

people to the doctor’s knowledge. Henrietta was negatively affected because she had not given

permission for them to take her cells. Using the greatest good method of ethical decision

making, the taking of Henrietta lacks’ cells was not ethical. When Dr. Wharton took Henrietta’s

cells, it would have little to no impact on Henrietta in that moment. Dr. Wharton probably would

not have minded had his cells been taken, and Henrietta had no idea they had been taken, so in

this situation, “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you”, what the person doesn’t

know won’t hurt them. Using the golden rule, the taking of Henrietta’s cells was ethical.

Henrietta was being treated using x-rays to keep her cancer away. This was in

Henrietta’s best interest, until Henrietta wanted to have another child. “Toward the end of her

treatments, Henrietta asked her doctor when she’d be better so she could have another child.

Until that moment, Henrietta didn’t know that the treatments had left her infertile. Warning

patients about fertility loss before cancer treatments was standard practice at Hopkins” (Skloot

47). “In this case something went wrong: In Henrietta’s medical record, one of her doctors

wrote, ‘Told she could not have any more children. Says if she had been told before, she would

not have gone through with treatment’” (Skloot 47-48). The treatment of Henrietta was

unethical using the feelings and opinions method of ethical decision making because Henrietta

made it very clear she was upset by the treatment – the treatment she was not given full

disclosure about. Using the greatest good method of ethical decision making, Henrietta’s

treatment was ethical because it was the best they knew how to treat her cancer and Henrietta
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was the greatest good in the situation, no one else could benefit or be negatively affected by her

treatments. Once the cancer had left Henrietta, she was being treated using x-rays to keep the

cancer away. This was in Henrietta’s best interest but it left her infertile without her consent.

Hopkins doctors, presumably, would not want to be left infertile, unknowingly. Using the

golden rule, the doctors did not do unto Henrietta as they would have done to them, and the

treatment of Henrietta’s cancer was unethical.

The Lacks family was left completely in the dark about so many things relating to

Henrietta. The physical taking of cells is considered ethical, however what they did after

extracting the cells is up for debate. After taking the cells, they were sent to Dr. George Gey to

be tested without patient or familial consent. Then, the cells were sold throughout the medical

community for a profit, still leaving the family oblivious. “This was a time when ‘benevolent

deception’ was a common practice – doctors often withheld even the most fundamental

information from their patients” (Skloot 63). Trained professionals, doctors who had taken oaths

to protect their patients, failed to protect Henrietta and her family from exploiting Henrietta’s

cells. “In the fifteen years since George Gey had first grown HeLa, the number of published

articles involving cell cultures had more than tripled each year. Scientists had spent millions of

dollars conducting research on those cells to study the behavior of each tissue type” (Skloot 153).

It is apparently clear that the family never gave consent on behalf of Henrietta, and Henrietta

never gave consent herself. “Day clenches his three remaining teeth. ‘I didn’t sign no papers,’

he said. ‘I just told them they could do a topsy. Nothin else. Them doctors never said nuthin

about keepin her alive in no tubes or growin no cells’” (Skloot 164). “But they didn’t tell me

nuthin bout that” (Skloot 165). It is standard practice in today’s medical community to keep

patients aware of their treatments and contributions to research. “What would really upset
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Henrietta is the fact that Dr. Gey never told the family anything – we didn’t know nothing about

those cells and he didn’t care” (Skloot 169). Using the feelings and opinions method of ethical

decision making, the lack of information the family was given was unethical. There was no way

the family would be on board with Henrietta’s cells being taken away, the lack of knowledge

they had relating to her cancer, the research being done on Henrietta’s cells, and the lack of

compensation the Lack’s had received for Henrietta’s indirect contributions to science. Using

the greatest good method, the physical taking of the cells is considered unethical. When doctors

took the cells, then sent them away, and they conducted research on the cells to help progress

medicine, including the polio vaccine, this was ethical. It affected the greater good for the better.

Yes, the family was at a disadvantage, but the advancements made in modern medicine and the

amount of people HeLa cells helped far outweighs the upset of the Lacks’. The ignorant state

that the Lacks family was left in was unethical. Henrietta’s cells being taken without knowledge,

Henrietta being left infertile without any heads up, HeLa cells being sold to the public and to the

medical community without permission, all of this, is unethical. No one wants to be left in the

dark. The doctors left the Lacks family oblivious to the affairs of Henrietta’s cells. They would

not want this done to them and would expect to be updated and kept in the loop. Using the

golden rule method of ethical decision making, leaving the Lacks family unaware was unethical.

Four of these arguments are considered ethical. Five of these arguments are considered

unethical. Through the overall evaluation of Henrietta Lacks’ misfortunes, the taking of

Henrietta’s cells, her treatment, and her family’s overall awareness, Henrietta’s life was treated

in an unethical manner.
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Works Cited

Dineen, Kira, and My Gene Counsel. “Women in Science: Remembering Henrietta Lacks.” The

Jackson Laboratory, www.jax.org/news-and-insights/jax-blog/2016/august/women-in-science-

remembering-henrietta-lacks#.

“Negative Outcomes of Ethical Decisions.” Buzz,

byuis.agilixbuzz.com/student/108319978/activity/68FBB39E1C5C4ED78AC2913D2BC5FB62.

Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Pocketförlaget, 2012.