Henrietta Lacks and Informed Consent

Discussion in 'Healthcare Reform Discussions' started by M. Da Silva, May 28, 2019 at 2:04 AM.

  1. M. Da Silva

    M. Da Silva new user

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    The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks effectively illustrates the significance of Henrietta Lacks’s life, her contributions to science, and their impact on her family. I do not believe there to be problematic elements as to how Skloot portrays Lacks and her family throughout the course of the book. It was appreciated that at the beginning of the book, Skloot took the time to preface her documentation of the events of her interactions with the Lacks family by stating that she would be doing her best to not change the language that they used during conversation. She wanted to tell their story in as true and real a way as possible (Skloot, 2010).

    During Skloot and Deborah's meeting with Christoph Lengauer, Lengauer emphasizes the importance of Henrietta Lacks’s contribution to science and how she is remembered in the medical community. He states, "Whenever we read books about science, it's always HeLa this and HeLa that. Some people know those are the initials of a person, but they don't know who that person is. That's important history." (p. 266). This quote was a significant statement. However, it brings to light more discussion around the idea of informed consent. In many cases, there is a clause of anonymity around consenting to be part of different research protocols. While it would be important information knowing who Henrietta Lacks was and the person behind HeLa cells. It would not be so black and white as to whether the identity of the patient who provided the research samples who be revealed to the public.

    The ethics surrounding Ms. Lacks’s story are a learning experience for any medical professional. The way in which Skloot was able to introduce readers to the background of her case, and all the events that led up to the eventual malpractice of how Ms. Lacks’s tissue samples were obtained brought a personalized touch to her story (Skloot, 2010). Learning about her story has assisted in facilitating my awareness of being a more ethical leader. Obviously, the events of this book are perpetuated by the wrong doings of medical professionals of years past. The resulting outcomes were still being implemented by present day researchers but to retroactively make the effort to right this wrong without the family coming forward would have never happened. The story of Henrietta Lacks brings to light the idea that as leaders in the medical community, there is a certain standard to which facilities must be held accountable. As a result of the past negligent actions, this family was deserved the compensation for the errors of the past.

    To prevent future unethical practices, occurrences, or mishaps, it is vital to learn from this story to know how to move forward in the future. Ethically, setting standards and making sure that medical professionals adhere to proper protocols, policies, and workflows is key. Within health care organizations, there should be a routine mandatory compliance training for research professionals related to the protocols in place for informed consent to ensure that all parties are cognizant of how to conduct patient induction into any proposed research trials.


    References

    Skloot, R. (2010). The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York, NY: Broadway Books.