Rebecca Skloot’s Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a nonfiction book that speaks about the story of Henrietta Lacks. The book gives a good blending of science and narration and covers the life of Henrietta, her family, and the author. Worthy note here, Henrietta was a black tobacco farmer who died of cancer in 1951 (pg 10). The book presents to us various themes and raises many questions that leave us pondering over different aspects of our societies and professions. Some of the themes Skloot highlights are bioethics.
Bioethics refers to the ethics of biological and medical research. Skloot explicitly explores this topic in her book and raises several questions in this regard. When Henrietta went for her cancer treatment, she was not consulted when the doctor harvested cells from her body for study. She was also not informed that cells were harvested from her. In addition, Henrietta was not informed about the consequences of her cancer treatment that she would be infertile afterward (pg 10). These practices are unbecoming because a patient should be made to know the condition that is being treated in her body and the results explained to her. However, during this time laws governing the extraction of body cells from individuals were not in existence. Again, for the poor patients in the society such as Henrietta, harvesting cells from their bodies for study would be seen as a fair trade since they accessed free medical services. It was assumed that doctors were very knowledgeable and always worked towards ensuring the well being of their patients without any other agendas.
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Skloot raises crucial questions on whether Henrietta’s family ought to have been compensated for the ownership of her cells. This is because the cells were harvested from her and stored in laboratories for the purpose of conducting studies. A question arises if the cells belong to modern science or they belong to the family members of Henrietta. Again, since Henrietta was not asked of her consent as the cells were being harvested, should her family be asked about it now? Moreover, do the benefits the world of medicine has achieved through Henrietta’s cells (Hela cells) outweigh the desires of her family? Skloot also points out at the abuse of bioethics in some experiments where Dr. Southam injects patients with cancer cells for the purpose of testing if their immunity will be boosted to generate immunity against the disease they were suffering from (pg 95). Such a practice is unprofessional and highly harmful with the capability of causing devastating effects in the bodies of individuals.
Skloot also highlights the issue of racism in medicine. Henrietta, a black woman was not made aware of the harvesting of her cells. The American medical scene has severally been accused of practicing racism against blacks. A typical case is the Tuskegee syphilis study that saw doctors taking advantage of the uneducated blacks and using their bodies to study the progression of the malice. Another case is the Mississippi Appendectomies where medical services were performed on black women devoid of their consent consequentially rendering them infertile (pg 40). These practices within the medical fraternity end up causing distrust from among those who feel sidelined. For instance, Henrietta’s husband is objective to medical treatment (pg 11).
In conclusion, Rebecca Skloot’s Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a story that truly reflects various occurrences found in real life situation as the story is nonfiction. The explicitly explored theme on bioethics leaves me reflecting on our professional dynamics.
