-
Essay / Critical analysis of the immortal life of Henrietta...
The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, was a non-fiction story about the life of Henrietta Lacks, who died of cervical cancer from the uterus in 1951. Henrietta did not know that her doctor took a sample of her cancer cells a few months before her death. “Henrietta’s cells called HeLa were the first immortal human cells ever grown in a laboratory” (Skloot 22). In fact, the cells from her cervix represent the most important advance in medical research. Rebecca was interested in writing this story because she was anxious about the HeLa cell story. When she was in biology class, her teacher, Donald Defler, gave a lecture about cells. Defler tells the story of Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells. However, the professor ended his lecture by saying that Henrietta Lacks was a black woman. In this book, Rebecca wants to tell the truth about Henrietta Lacks' story during her medical process and the rights of Henrietta's family after her death. The story began when Henrietta felt knots in her body. People around her said that maybe these knots were because she was pregnant. However, Henrietta never experienced these knots until she was pregnant. After a week, she felt something was wrong with her body and found herself pregnant with her fifth child. Her cousins, Sadie and Margaret, told her the pain probably had something to do with the baby. “However, Henrietta said that wasn’t the case, because the knot is there before the baby” (Skloot 36). After her son was born, Henrietta told her husband, David Lack, to take her to the doctor because she was bleeding from her vagina when it wasn't her time. They went to a clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In this hospital, Howard Jones, a gynecologist, examined Henrietta and...... in the middle of paper..., the name of Henrietta Lacks must be introduced to the world since she is the woman who generated HeLa cells, because the name of the person who generated the HeLa cells is still unknown. By doing this, his family will be honored and respected by others. Henrietta Lacks' story is proof that the ethics of medical processes need to be improved. For a long time, many patients have been victims of embezzlement. Sometimes doctors can still do anything without patients' consent. Every medical establishment must guarantee the integrity of any consent form signed by a patient. To summarize, Henrietta Lacks' story could be the way to improve the standardization and equality of medical institutions in the future. Works Cited Skloot, Rebecca, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Random House, Inc., 2010,2011. PDF eBook