RACC 2011 Discussion Question 1
After realizing the significance of Henrietta Lacks’ cells, Dr. Gey used the code name HeLa but deliberately mislead the public and her family saying that HeLa stood for Helen Lane. Dr Gey did this because he was concerned Henrietta’s family might sue over the use of her cells. Do you think Dr. Gey’s actions reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of Africa-Americans by the US medical system and establishment? State your opinion and provide two sources of evidence to justify your position.
For Discussion
ReplyDeleteRebecca Skloot presents an interesting narrative of the complex diversity of the Jim Crow American society. A society bereft with discrimination and the lack of social mobility for African Americans. A society in which color determine access to medical treatment and other welfare provision. A society in which there were no standard ethical practice for the medical professionals. It was against this meliu that Lacks cell became the first to be succeefully cultured and mutated. Apart from the ethical concerns of the use of He La cell, the breakthrough revolutionalized medical science, the practice of medicine and other related fields of scientific inquiry. Identify some of the developments in science and practice of medicine that were linked to the He La cell scientific inquiry and discoveries
In my opinion Dr. Gey ‘s action do reflect the mistreatment and discrimination of U.S. medical system. And it still continues today, for example The NCAA is making all Division 1 athletes to be screened for a genetic sickle cell trait. This screening mainly targets African American athletes to genetic discrimination. And we all know what happen with the Tuskegee syphilis experiment with the sharecroppers. This is part of the reason African Americans will not go to the doctor then and now.
ReplyDeleteThere's no question that Dr. Gey's actions reflected the mistreatment and discrimination of the U.S. medical system. The continuing unequal access to health care by African Americans demonstrates that this mistreatment and discrimination have not died. But perhaps there is a larger question concerning the ethics of medical experimentation in general. Is the experiment more ethical if provides experimental treatments? Is it ever ethical to withhold treatment?
ReplyDeleteI believe without a shadow of a doubt that it reflects mistreatment and discrimination. However, to answer the above question, it is ethical to withhold the treatment in the event of an uninformed patient. In Mrs. Lacks case she wasn't informed of what was going on and much the same with the Tuskegee experiment. Though the latter was not in the category of recieving experimental "treatment" one may draw parallels between experimentation in general and experimental treatment. Due to the fact that there may likely be unintended effects it is ethical to withhold treatment in the event that the Doctor has not asked the patient whether (s)he is willing to take the risk.
ReplyDeleteThere appears to have been a long history at Johns Hopkins of conducting medical studies on the poorer neighborhoods of Baltimore. The book reports that parents would warn their children not to roam the streets at night close to the hospital in fear that the doctors would grab them and perform experiments on them. Dr. Gey had taken so many samples from patients that I am sure that he was shocked that Mrs. Lacks cells actually survived and grew. The sad thing was that many people would probably given the consent to have the hospital use their tissue samples if they were asked.
ReplyDeleteOne thing the question suggests to me is an aside to the question asked. I think it is interesting to wonder why Dr. Gey thought going with the HeLa and Helen Lane ruse would protect him from a lawsuit, when any deposition of staff or subpoena of records would likely show the truth. I suspect he thought he could get by with the ruse because doctors were considered unchallengeable in those days and, further, the certainty that poor folk would not be able to get an attorney to ardently pursue the case.
ReplyDeleteTo me there seem to be at least two issues involved in this question--and the responses so far.
ReplyDeleteOne is the question of about "mistreatment" in general and "systematic mistreatment" in particular. This applies both to Henrietta's treatment at JH for cancer and to her family's treatment after her death. According to Skloot, its not clear that the treatment Henrietta received was that much different from what a white patient would have gotten, although she says there is some evidence that blacks in general were treated and hospitalized later (although she does not cite who did these studies, when, where, etc.) This raises the question of access to health care, which as Dougls Turner points ouw was and still is unequal, but is tied to a range of issues of which race is only one, although an important one.
Its also unclear whether taking the tissue sample would qualify as "mistreatment. Skloot says Walton, TeLinde, etc routinely took samples, usually without asking for consent, since that was standard practice--which could mean that race had little or nothing to do with it. Many of those who "gave" samples this way may have been black, but its not clear they were systematically selected. It would be interesting to know what was going on in other places (in hospitals, private practice, and research labs) to see if there were discriminatory practices, but it's hard to say based on what we have now. Gey was clearly getting a lot of samples from different patients and doctors and Henrietta's were just one more of "countless" samples. (p. 33) If no one else was else was asked, can Henrietta's case be called discrimination or mistreatment? We might not agree with that now, and what was standard back then may seem arbitrary or suspect to us, but that's an issue of hindsight and perspective. (Remember in the 1950s many if not most doctors smoked and even appeared in ads for cigarettes because they didn't know what we know about it today.) And one of Skloot's main points is that Henrietta & the HeLa cells occur as medical ethics are changing in the 1960s-1990s.
There would appear to be a stronger case that Henrietta's family was "mistreated" after she died by being kept in the dark about the HeLa cell line. But its not simple either. The use of initials to identify cells was also standard practice in the lab (maybe elsewhere too, but the book doesn't say)and it was the lab assistant who did it not Gey himself. And its not clear at all whether either of them know if they came from an African-American. (pp. 33-35) So its not clear that they were trying to hide anything at the start, especially at the start since they didn't know what would happen.
Later when the cell line was established and being used is when they (Gey and others at JH) decided they wanted to keep the source anonymous to avoid "trouble"--although its not clear what type of trouble this might be. (p.p. 104-108)
Just noticed how long this has gotten, so I'll stop here and add more later. Just wanted to point out that from a historians perspective we have to be careful about over-generalizing and not getting ahead of the facts AND not falling into a mono-causal explanation.
I think his actions do reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of African Americans in the US medical system. Basic framework of the medical system is use African Americans as lab rats to perfect medicines and surgical techniques on them and when they reach the levels that they think it should many African Americans might be denied or cannot afford to receive the perfected treatment.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe this is evidence of the mistreatment of African Americans within the US medical system as a whole. As stated above, African Americans have always been lab rats regardless of any kind of experiment regardless medical or not.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this decision was not limited to race, but also a financial decision for the physicians. Forfeiting bonuses in exchange for something as "Minor" as telling the truth is wouldn't be considered ethical in the business world.
Slavery- ethical for business, not morally.
All exploitation for a dollar.
In my opinion, Dr. Gey actions do reflect the mistreatment and discrimination of the U.S. medical system. I feel that what he did was based solely on the basis that African Americans were considered uneducated and inferior. The only source or incidence I can recall dealing with the U.S. medical system mistreated African Americans was the Tuskegee Syphilis Study(1932-1972) where African American sharecroppers were enrolled in the study. For participating in the study they were given free food, free burial insurance and free medical exams. However, they were never told they had syphilis or if they were even being treated for the disease. They were only told that they had “bad blood”(sounds familiar, Henrietta used that term also) which was a term blacks used to describe serious illness and diseases.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion,YES! Dr. Gey knew what he was doing. In general the doctors at John Hopkins Hospital knew what they were doing all together. Henrietta came in looking for treatment, looking for answers about her health. Dr. Gey lied to her telling her the radium was going to make everything better. I think every time Henrietta went back for treatment Dr. Gey collected some more of her good cells, once he relized what her cells could do. Dr. Gey took advantage of Henrietta because she was an Africa-American. It is always like the white man to try and get one over on us. In the Tuskegee syphilis studies the (white) doctors never told the Africa-Americans that they had syphilis itself they lied and said that they had “bad blood”. This is another classic example of the white man mistreating Africa-Americans. In the Jim Crow Laws the white man wanted nothing to do with Africa-Amerians. They didn’t want to go to the same school, sit in the same restaurant, and drink at the same fountain. In both the white man is always taking advantage of Africa-Americans, using us for experiments and treating us like garbage or lab rats. In both the federal government approved these practices. Congress passed no laws to prevent the Tuskegee studies or the Jim Crow Laws.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree that Dr. Grey in fact understood his intent and was very knowledgeable of the legal ramification that could have been applied to him if such understanding of what he had done was revealed. I feel that all doctors at that time felt that most black where ignorant to what was happing to them and that blacks wasn’t a citizen to even to possess the information about what studies were being done to them. I would have to agree with Mrs. Pink about the “example of the white man mistreating Africa-Americans. In the Jim Crow Laws the white man wanted nothing to do with Africa-Americans, but would use them to “enhance” their own wealth.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else I believe that Dr. Gey misled the public and Mrs. Lack's family. His actions do reflect the systemic mistreatment and discrimination of African-Americans in the US medical system. While there are numerous examples of African-American medical mistreatment in the US mentioned in Medical Apartheid,(the testing of smallpox vaccines on slaves or the use of black corps for anatomy classes)I believe that we have to expand our horizons and include Africans who have been subject to the same mistreatment. The following are examples:
ReplyDeleteProject Coast (1979-1987) was a South African experiment in which Africans were injected with poison by a chemical and bio weapons unit. Wouter Basson the leader of this project was never convicted in South African court.
Type IV Female Genital Cutting (Gambia)includes harmful procedures for non medical purposes. These procedures can be done without anesthesia and sterile equipment, leaving young women susceptible to a myriad of health risks.
Obviously the intersection of race and poverty in the US and in the global community has resulted in brutalization of Africans as well as Africans in the diaspora.
I think that Dr Grey knew what he was doing and trying not to protect the family. I think that he was just saying that to justify himself and to make himself feel better or not to think of himself as the bad guy. This reminds me of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. Dr Grey was using Henrietta Lack's cells to push his own career.During this time some may have thought that what ever the Dr. said is right and Dr. Grey took advantage of this, he knew that she was ill and he did not try to solve the problem he just used her. Some do not trust the Dr and this may be why they wait until they are extremely ill and do not seek any medical help.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Amanda, I wholly agree. Topics such as this should never be viewed in a vacuum but as a reflection of the mistreatment of blacks in the diaspora as a whole. I applaud her recognition that it does not only apply to medical mistreatment and segregation but also brutalization in general. In so saying, I'd go as far back as to include King Leopold II cutting the hands of Africans in the Congo as an example of the global brutalization of blacks and blatant disregard for the bodies of blacks.
ReplyDeleteIf people are going to post comments, I think they should do more to support their statements with concrete examples and evidence (either from the Henrietta Lacks book or other sources.) Some of the recent posts, such as those of Ida, Mrs. Pink, and Mr. Focus either make sweeping statements with little or no supporting evidence or contain factual errors which raise doubts about their grasp of the material and/or judgements. The Tuskeegee syphlis study is mentioned by several people, but it by itself does not indicate a "systematic" policy of using African-Americans as "lab rats." Amanda and Adam are to be congratulated for bringing in other cases/examples to support their arguments along these lines (and those of you who have not read Medical Apartheid would be well-advised to check this out.) An opinion or belief, no matter how strongly believed, is not the same as a reasoned or documented argument, and an argument without strong supporting evidence is not likely to convince anyone who is not already share the initial belief (a situation we see all too often in this country and around the world.)
ReplyDeleteLikewise, when Mrs. Pink confuses the doctor who treated Henrietta--Dr. TeLinde-- with Dr. Gey, it weakens the rest of her argument, which again quickly falls into sweeping generalizations. One of the things that makes Skloot's book so powerful is its attention to detail and providing rich evidence from a variety of sources to give us not only a poignant narrative of one family's experience but an analysis of the evolution of medical ethics.
As state above, Amanda and Adam raise the bar by citing other examples of the mistreatment of Blacks. However, let me pose two questions, one for each. Amanda: In the case of Gambia, who is conducting or promoting genital cutting? You don't indicate what role race plays here? Are the doctors and patients different races or the same? Can doctors--either back then or now-- mistreat patients who are the same race as themselves because they see them as ignorant and incapable of understanding "modern science?" Adam: in the case of Leopold in the Congo--yes the Belgians did that, history is full of other people brutalizing, killing, and maiming other people (sometimes people quite like themselves) so what would make this any different or more worthy of our concern/outrage? Does brutality merit the same condemnation anywhere and anytime or do you want to create a "hierarchy" of brutality and suffering in which some are selected for special consideration?
Everyone else: look at what Skloot has to say about Dr. Southham and his research. What do his activities say about a perhaps more insidious form of bigotry--that of the educated and/or powerful vs. the masses--one in which some are mistreated for the sake of a higher good such as "science," "progress," or "civilization."
Simply stating a belief or opinion is not rather simplia
Dr. Patton:
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't necessarily posit that there should be a hierarchy of brutality -- brutality is brutality. For examples of this you can cite events such as the holocaust; the Christian crusades and the genocide by Saddam Hussein on Iraqi Kurds. However, I think emphasis must be placed on brutality in which the perpetrator justifies his or her action by regarding the other as subhuman. Consistent with my examples above, this is largely what happened in the colonization of Africa and the mistreatment of Blacks in the United States.
In so saying, I don't believe the outrage should be focused as much in the act (while, admittedly there is certainly outrage in acts of brutality) but also in the fact that in the process of calculating the brutality the humanity of blacks is not a factor in the equation. It has seemed that through history, when the humanity of a person is in question the perpetrator of an evil is more likely to resort to "experimental"/extreme methods of killing or punishment. Again I reference the use of Cyclon B to kill Jews in the Holocaust as well as Saddam's Halabja poison gas attack.
Admittedly there have been other instances where sub-personhood (or non-personhood) has been used to justify killing (i.e. burning witches at the stake). However, I do not believe this detracts from my argument; if anything, it enhances it. My overarching notion is not that brutality due to sub-personhood should be viewed as worse but it should be viewed as unique. It allows the perpetrator to feel less remorse for their actions (if they felt any at all).
And if I could add: The economic status and gender of Mrs. Lacks played a very important role in her mistreatment as well. Typically, doctors tend to have a certain level of disregard to have for patients who are not able to pay them or do not have adequate health insurance (this is a trend that continues to this day.) I would go in depth about the gender issue but I will leave that for someone else to take up for now.
I totally agree that Dr. Grey's actions reflect discrimination and mistreatment of the African American race. For decades, our race have been looked at as the race that isnt very successful, stupid, and just care about the material things. This situation doesn't surprise me one bit because we have been getting attacked by situations for the longest. I also agree on the situation in which Joseph brought up about the testing of college athletes for the sickle cell. Yes our race are the leading carriers, i have the trait myself. It just isn't right how society is attacking our race not physically but mentally by insulting us.
ReplyDeleteIt goes without saying that Dr. Grey's actions reflect the immoral discrimination and mistreatment of African Americans. The lives of African Americans began with physical and mental hardships from White Americans and the continuity of said disrespect is revealed in the case of Henrietta Lacks. From Thomas Jefferson exposing his slaves to the small pox vaccine, to hospitals not charging African American patients so that, after death, their bodies can be used in anatomy classes, history has been imbrued with the ill-treatment of African Americans.
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ with Joseph's assertion that the policy of the NCAA targets African American athletes. It is axiomatic that African American are predisposed to sickle cell, I do not think that the policy was crafted to negatively impact African American athletes. In fact, such screening could be beneficial if someone is discovered to have the sickle cell. For instance, a few years ago a prominent professional soccer player in Europe did not know that he had a hole in his heart until he was sold by one club to another. His new club had a medical policy which required rigorous tests for all kinds of diseases and conditions, including sickle cell. It was during these test that the doctors discovered that he had some problems with his heart.
ReplyDeleteIt may not be the case that the NCAA policy was intended to negatively target and therefore discriminate against African Americans.
And for those who point out that Dr. Gey discriminated against Mrs. Lacks, the question is: is there any evidence in the book of how white patients or other patients were treated by Dr. Gey. While the author presented a compelling narrative of how Mrs. Lacks was mistreated, Skloot did not present evidence of how other people were treat at the hospital. THe challenge for us is to pprovide evidence from our readings. These evidence out there.
I believe that the Doctors decision to cover up Henrietta Lewis's DNA is very disenfranchising. He not only did not want to pay her family but he did not want the world to know that the potential cure to certain types of cancer came from a black womans genetics.
ReplyDeleteI beleive that Dr. Gey's action reflected the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of Africa-Americans by the US medical system and establishment. I say this because they used African Americans as lab rats for experimentation, such as the Syphillis research at Tuskeegee. They also lied to try to cover up the fact that they were using this woman's cells without permission of the family.
ReplyDeleteIt would be ridiculous if anyone believes that Dr. Gey had the right to do what took place by any means. When it comes to discrimination, then and today, nothing is surprising at all. I feel that what Dr. Gey did was wrong on many levels. African Americans were used as experiments. It was like if you didn't have the money for services, which was usually the case, then doctors could basically use you as they saw fit. One of the only positives I see in this situation is that with Henrietta being so unique, she's help many people today. Dr. Gey and his nurses were definitely wrong for discriminating and keeping something so big from her and her family.
ReplyDeleteI definitely say that Dr Gey's actions reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of African Americans by the US medical system and establishments.I say this because back tnen they used African Americans as "dummies". They experimented on then without any consent. Mrs Lacks wasnt the first Afircan American to be experimented on, she just so happens to be the answer to the "white" researchers problems. Doctors and researchers gave African Americans little or no respect, dead or alive. They feard that African Americans would retaliate if they knew the truth, therefore they disrrspected them and concealed the truth.
ReplyDeleteDr. Gey's action may reflect the mistreatment of African Americans in the medical field. Dr. Gey changing the name of the HeLa cells to Helen Lane shows that there was something he wanted to hide.It may have been possible that he did not want people to know that this great discovery came from a black woman. Also agreeing with JRoyale, African Americans were used as experimental subjects. This may have possibly been their way to pay for medical services in the eyes of white physicians.
ReplyDeleteDr. Gey's actions do reflect mistreatment and discrimination. However, in the case of doctor Gey I dont believe it was just mistreatment towards African Americans but towardshis patients as a whole. He never informed patients when he took samples and going by the simple fact that he felt the need to hide Henriettas real name leads me to believe that his actions were shameful and something to hide. Another example of mistreatment(in this case of blacks)docctor Gey was quick to administer to blacks and send them on there way without fully seeing to them and in this time blacks knew better than to question the physician.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Dr.Gey's actions reflected mistreatment and discrimination.He knew if he was asked whose cells they were and he gave them Henriettas name that would have sparked a lots of controversy.He not only broke his oath as a doctor but disrespected his deceased patient and family this leads one to question his accountablitlty as a practicing doctor all together.I feel that guy felt as if African Americans especially wouldnt question his position as a physcian as no one really did at that time.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Dr. Geys' actions reflected mistreatment and discrimination. As of using African Americans as test dummy and not being accountable for one's life or that the life of an African American is only a practice. The fact of him not being honest leads to controversial questions to his morals and position as a doctor. Dr. Geys' actions showed another version of no remorse to his patients nor to the oath of his practice.
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely no question that this was a case of racial discrimination. I would go even further to determine that it is also economic discrimination. African Americans have always been taken advantage of at the hands of white America and this is a primary example. The fact that Henrietta was black and that she was financially unstable, ultimately lead to one of the most important medical breakthroughs of the 20 century and the Doctors at John Hopkins did everything they could to prevent its association to a black women. It is no coincidence that Dr.Gey tried to disguise the name of the cells, he was trying to protect his pockets just as much as he was trying to create immortal cells. Sadly, this concept of the "black guinea pig" is still true today. For example, some African Americans participant in health care studies in order to pursue some form of health care for their ailment, such as African American women that participate in breast cancer studies. Doctors sometimes know little to nothing in regards to the effects of the experiments on humans. In lower income areas, blacks have little access to health care and with the cost of health insurance and the republicans control of the House of Representatives, lower income blacks may never get the proper health care they need.
ReplyDeleteI believe Dr. Gey's action may reflect the mistreatment of African Americans in the medical field. Dr. Grey didnt use patients real names that made me believe he had something to hide. He didnt even have the decency to ask the family for their approval. Mrs. Lacks economic status played a important role in her lack of treatment.
ReplyDeleteDr. Gey used Henrietta Lacks’ cells,he used the code name HeLa misleadng the public and her family saying that HeLa stood for Helen Lane.I feel that Dr. Gey ‘s action do reflect the mistreatment and discrimination of U.S. medical system.
ReplyDeleteThis is definately an example of racial discrimination. Henrietta's situation led to great strides in medical breakthroughs. She was used basically for experimental purposes because of her financial situation. This mistreatment of a patient black or white makes me question his ethics and morals as a doctor.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else Dr. Gey's actions did reflect the systemic mistreatment and discrimination of African-Americans in the US medical system. She came from a time of racial segregation and discrimination and where the color of your skin determined your medical treatment. This is an example that unequal medical treatment is still going in today's society and that things have not changed much. It is considered to be unethical for a doctor to withhold treatments required for a patient to survive and that is exactly what Dr. Gey did because he did not inform HeLa on what he was doing and what was going on with her body.
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ReplyDeleteI think his actions do reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of African Americans in the US medical system. There is a long history of this type of deception and blatant disregard for African American rights dating back as far as slavery with Dr. James Marion Sims, considered the father of modern gynecology, who developed many of his techniques by operating on slaves, many of whom were not given anesthesia. The Tuskegge experiiment is another example of this mistreatment towards African Americans in this country.
ReplyDeleteI believe Dr. Gey's actions were unethical and were in the tradition of discrimination against blacks. If the doctors at Hopkins had just asked Ms Lacks to be a donor she probably would have donated samples. The fact that they didn't ask her shows that they felt that she had no right to know. It is also very disrespectful to take genetic information from a very sick person without their consent. It shows a lack of respect for the patients and the experiment itself.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Dr. Gey’s actions reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of Africa-Americans by the US medical system and establishment. It is explained in the story that Henrietta's own family did not have health care even though it was her cells that were responsible for so many medical advances throughout the years. This is ridiculous in my opinion. It is utterly insane to even deny them any kind of medical help on the simple fact that their family member's cells are responsible for their success and wealth. On the aspect of them using a different name to hide the face that they were here cells, it shows that she and her cells were also thought of as property with no mind or reason.
ReplyDeleteDr. Gey’s actions do reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of Africa-Americans by the US medical system and establishment. Blacks have been discriminated against since the days of slavery and disproportionately subject to non-consensual, medical experimentation. This deed is not confined to the past. The most famous occurrence was the Tuskegee syphilis study in which the United States Public Health Service denied penicillin treatment to black sharecroppers for 40 years, but Tuskegee was by one incident in a continual pattern of abuse over two hundred years. If it were a white woman, EVERYONE would know her name, she would have become a legend for us to read about. If it had of been a white woman, she probably wouldn't have died.
ReplyDeleteI absoloutely agree that Dr. George Gey's actions reflected an systematic mistreatment and discrimination of Africa-Americans by the US medical system and establishment simply because Dr.Gey hid the truth. Why would he name the HeLa cells after Helen Lane and not Henrietta Lacks? Why? Because she was a young, poor, black woman who was targeted in the eyes of white physicians and they knew what they were doing was wrong. I also think it was wrong of them to have had sampled patients prior to Henrietta without their consents as well. The books doesn't states, but those patients probably was black as well. Henrietta just wanted to be well, and they took advantage of her for their own personal greedy needs.
ReplyDelete*Charnetta Mckenzie*
I do feel that the actions reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of Africa-Americans by the US medical system and establishment because if Henrietta family new about the cells and that they were selling they would have wanted a cut of the money. It was bad enough that they were suffering with their moms death and then to later on found out that the science field has been making money off their mom cells and let alone they couldnt even get insurance at all. I think it was considerate that they did withheld her name for security purpose but still their mom contributed so much to science. I also felt that the doctors felt that since we are giving them services for free then we should be able to keep whatever is left over.
ReplyDeleteYes I do believe Gey’s actions reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of African-American by the US medical system. I think that if he told his past assistant just before his death “it was fine to release Henrietta name if anyone was too asked”. He wasn’t only a criminal cells crook and it had taken place many years ago, but because he was dying he couldn’t be sued. Maybe this came from his conscience sense he too learned in 1970 he was also dying from cancer, pancreatic cancer!The history of the Hopkins hospital researcher and their authorization in many things is to be question. The mistreatment of black patient is of uncertainty but, the 1969 discovery of blood sample taken from more than seven thousand children and most of them black to study genetic predisposition to criminal behavior with no consent is a factor giving truth to their conduct of African-American. “The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit calming the study violated the boys civil rights and patient relationship by releasing results to the state and juvenile court". He mislead the public and his affiliates knowing the great HeLa was from Henrietta Lacks.
ReplyDeleteDr. Gey's actions definitely reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of African-Americans by the U.S. medical system and establishment. He knew that if the public knew the HeLa cells came from an African-American woman, they would not be interested in the cells. One incident that displays the U.S. medical system mistreatment towards African-Americans was the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
ReplyDeleteYes, in my opinion Dr. Gey did deliberately change her name so that her family or the public wouldn’t know. After her death, Henrietta’s body was cooled in the “colored” freezer. Gey wanted samples from as many organs in her body as possible, therefore, he only asked her husband if he could perform an autopsy. . Gey agreed to be interview under two conditions: that he be allowed to read and approve the final article, and that the magazines not include the personal story or full name of the patient the cells came from.
ReplyDeleteI whole-heartedly believe that Dr. Gey’s actions reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of African Americans by the US medical system and establishment. Ever since segregation has existed in the US, the medical treatment received by African Americans has been sufficiently inadequate to that of their white counterparts. The best example in “The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks” that supports this claim is the passage that mentions “night doctors” . According to Rebecca Skloot, author of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” “…news spread that medical schools were offering money in exchange for bodies. Black corpses were routinely exhumed from graves for research, and an underground shipping industry kept schools in the North supplied with black bodies from the South for anatomy courses (Skloot 166).”
ReplyDeleteI personally feel that the U.S. has continually used minorities, particularly African Americans and those who are at a disadvantage and/or not educated on medical practices and treatments to perform experiments and research on them unknowingly. In Chapter 17 of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” we are given several examples of how the medical community has used people who didn’t know or even realize that they were being used for medical research. Many times we find that these people are uneducated, minorities who live in poverty.As slaves became emancipated they were provided with what was thought to be humane health care, but due to many of them not being able to read and not clearly understanding what was going on when patients were admitted to hospitals many would sign paper work which waived their rights as patients, This was a common practice in areas that was populated by blacks, yet as seen in this novel due to segregation laws of that era many had no option but to go to these hospitals. We also see in Chapter 17 that many inmates in prison were exposed to medical experiments in which diseases such as cancer and tularemia was directly injected into them, these inmates felt that they were making a right in the wrongs they had done in society. Many times we overlook the inhumane treatment given to people we consider disposable in society. It is this blind eye that allows these practices to continue. ( Candice kent )
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion,I do think that Dr. Gey’s actions reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of Africa-Americans by the US medical system and establishment. History has shown that often times African Americans have been used to complete scientific research or do experiments on. Most African Americans who received this treatment were uneducated and lived in poverty areas. Even though they didn't have complete understanding, the doctor did just as Dr. Grey did. What they are doing and have done is wrong. It shows that there isn't an equal respect nor was there any consideration of her family in Dr. Grey's actions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the majority of everyone else that Dr. Gey's action did reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrination of African Americans in the U.S. medical system. During her time your race and economic status determined who you were and what you was gon be. I think it's interesting that he used the code name HeLa because he's giving someone credit without them even knowing.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with most people on the blog for one simple fact. Dr. Gey actions does not personally reflect the mistreatment of Mrs. Lacks. He did not intentionally target blacks and experiment on them; however there is a mistreatment of African Americans in the medical system of America. The Lack's family were uneducated and therefore taken advantage of by the system.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do think, Dr. Gey’s actions reflect the systematic mistreatment and discrimination of Africa-Americans by the US medical system and establishment because he misslead the family and public intentionally. I feel like this is where it primarily started at with the fraud of doctors. Evidents show now how mainly blacks where brought into doctors offices for experiment back then. Afrian-Americans was treated as if we was not humans with feelings.
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