The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot: Book Review
As I was searching for a book to read for my English class, I stumbled upon “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot and immediately thought that this is a book all aspiring physicians MUST read. The book brings to light many of the failures of the healthcare system and healthcare research that occurred in the past towards African American patients. It offers many valuable lessons that need to be considered when interacting with patients in healthcare.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is centered around a 30-year-old African American woman named Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta was diagnosed with cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951, a period of segregation. At the time, it wasn’t unusual to give patients’ tissue samples and cells to researchers, and Henrietta’s cells were given to Dr. Gey to research growing human cells outside of the body. After Henrietta’s cancer cells proved successful in surviving and dividing outside of her body, they were labeled HeLa after the initials of her first and last name. HeLa cells were an integral part of biomedical research, with the cells seeing hundreds of labs around the world. Despite this, the Lacks family initially didn’t know that technically a part of Henrietta was still alive. They never received any financial compensation and had limited access to health care as a result of their poverty (Source).
One of the largest issues “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” touches on is informed consent.
Informed consent is defined as “a process for enabling individuals to make voluntary decisions about participating in research with an understanding of the purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, and alternatives. Informed consent is premised on well-established ethical principles, including respect for persons, beneficence, and justice” (Source).
When Henrietta was in the middle of radiation treatment for cervical cancer, she was not aware that the treatments would leave her infertile. Although medical records marked that Henrietta was aware that she would be infertile, nearly halfway through treatment she asked a doctor when she could have her next child. Henrietta was also never informed of her cells being used for research. Although Henrietta passed away before HeLa became widespread, her family was also in the dark about Henrietta’s cells being alive. The Lacks family’s unawareness of the implications of Henrietta’s treatment and her cells being used for research led to many hardships down the road for the family. The family’s lack of knowledge of cell research and scientific terminology only exacerbated the situation.
Overall, reading Rebecca Skloot’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” emphasized the need for a strong patient-provider relationship with a foundation of trust. It also encourages a discussion of ethics in medicine and medical research, and the book forces the reader to think about the impact of the choices certain people made on Henrietta Lacks and her family.
By: Sreenidhi Saripalli
