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Ben Crump

Henrietta’s family does not plan to sue pharmaceutical companies that claim to profit from her cancer cells

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Photo: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images

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Relatives of the late Henrietta Lacks, whose cells were harvested 70 years ago and used for biomedical research that continues today, have hired high-profile lawyers.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and co-counsel Christopher A. Seeger conducted the hearing a press conference was held July 29 in Baltimore, attended by Lacks’ oldest son, Lawrence Lacks Sr., and lots of family members.

“The American pharmaceutical community has a shameful history of profiting from research at the expense of Black people without their knowledge, consent or benefit, which has led to pharmaceutical companies massively profiting from our diseases and our bodies,” Crump said. “There is no clearer example of this than Henrietta Lacks and the seemingly endless manipulation of her genetic material.”

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Born in Virginia, Lacks was a farmer who immigrated to Maryland. The wife and mother of 5 was treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and died of the disease in 1951 on the age of 31.

Before her death, a sample of Lacks’ cancer cells was obtained during a biopsy sent to a cancer researcher’s laboratory. These cells, now commonly generally known as HeLa (using her initials), were discovered to have a tremendous property that had not been seen before: while other cells were dying, Lacks cells survived and doubled in size. Because HeLa cells may be grown repeatedly within the laboratory, they’ve since been utilized in medical and other research. Groundbreaking achievements include the event of a polio vaccine, treatments for cancer, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease and in vitro fertilization. There were also Lacks cells used in cosmetic tests and even sent into space to study the consequences of zero gravity. Recently yes supposedly utilized in research on COVID-19.

However, Crump claims that “pharmaceutical companies were unjustly enriched from this unethical harvesting of her cells, while Henrietta Lacks’ family was never provided with any equity.” He added that billions of dollars were made.

Seeger added that Lacks’ cells “have been profiting from large pharmaceutical companies for a long time…these companies have profited from Ms. Lacks’ ill-gotten genetic material, taken without her consent. This is solely fallacious and we intend to hold them accountable.”

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Speaking at a press conference last week, Kim Lacks called what happened to her grandmother “theft.”

Lacks’ story gained national and international attention after the book’s 2010 publication “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, writer and journalist Rebecca Skloot. The award-winning non-fiction book became a bestseller after which Emmy-nominated HBO film with Oprah Winfrey as daughter Deborah Lacks and Renee Elise Goldsberry as Henrietta Lacks.

Crump told ESSENCE that he and his legal team are “exploring all aspects of obtaining equity and benefits for Henrietta Lacks’ descendants.” The lawsuit is scheduled to be filed on October 4, the anniversary of her death. He said lots of of drug companies and others could potentially be sued.

ESSENCE contacted Johns Hopkins for comment and was directed to the web site by a spokeswoman. This states that Johns Hopkins “has never sold or profited from the discovery or distribution of HeLa cells and has no rights to the HeLa cell line.”

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The website further notes that within the Nineteen Fifties, when Lacks was hospitalized, there have been no established practices for informing patients or obtaining consent for the gathering of cell or tissue samples for research purposes, nor were there any regulations regarding the usage of patients’ cells in research. . “At Hopkins, it was common practice to obtain additional biopsy samples from cervical cancer patients for research purposes, regardless of race or socioeconomic status.”

The Lacks case under the influence updating the common principles that constitute the moral standard for patient informed consent within the medical environment. It requires doctors to inform patients if any aspect of their medical case might be used for research and to assign them a code number to ensure anonymity.

Crump, who has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others in lawsuits related to deadly police encounters, said he believes Lacks’ case raises larger issues about race. “We must make America respect the value of Black lives.”

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Ben Crump

Ben Crump calls on a federal investigation after 215 bodies found in unmarked graves near the Mississippi prison – essence

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Ben Crump calls on a federal investigation after 215 bodies found in unmarked graves near the Mississippi prison

Associated Press

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The Prosecutor of Civil Rights Ben Crump calls for a federal investigation on behalf of 215 people found at the Biedak cemetery behind a prison near Jackson, Mississippi without the knowledge of their relatives.

Crump desires to know why officials didn’t examine these deaths and didn’t attempt to contact their closest relatives, as a substitute of bury them in the grave of the poor near the dirt road at the Hinds criminal farm, which is positioned about 15 miles west of the center of Jackson.

The lawyer also noted that there are several hundred unmarked graves, a total of 672.

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“We try to ensure that the Federal Department of Justice come and investigate to make sure that each of these citizens, disproportionately black citizens whose lives will be identified, their families notified, and they received the right funeral,” Crump said PBS last week.

Crump joined forces with the Reverend Hosea Hines, senior pastor of the Church Tabernacle Christ and the national leader of the latest day of the Equity and Black America coalition to call for an investigation into the causes of 215 deaths.

“It really saddens my heart that their relatives have gone through so long, some more than a year, not knowing if their loved ones are dead or alive, and then realizing that they were buried in Puper’s grave behind prison,” said Hines Chicago Crusader. “If they were properly notified, they might have the option to submit the right respect.

“People throughout America scratch their heads in disbelief about what is happening in Jackson, Mississippi with the cemetery of this poor man,” said Crump at the last press conference. “It went from talking about water,” which didn’t exist or polluted: “As we are talking about the cemetery now. What is happening in Jackson, Mississippi?”

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Hines said that the head of the Police Department in Jackson, Joseph Wade, established a latest notification policy about the death of “which would give a relative information about their death and cause.”

“I talked to the boss and he told me that he would implement the rules and procedures to make sure it would happen again and pull individuals responsible for what happened,” said Hines.

“According to The Crusader, there must be a real call to justice” for 215 black, white, Latin and indigenous Americans who were buried after prison.

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The famous civil law lawyer Ben Crump to the main 123RD National Black Business Conference – Essence

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The famous civil law lawyer Ben Crump to the main 123RD National Black Business Conference

New York, New York – April 26: Benjamin Crump participates in the 2023 Time100 gala in Jazz, Lincoln Center on April 26, 2023 in New York. (Photo Arturo Holmes/Wireimage)

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123. National Black Business Conference continues his economic involvement in the black community and has a wonderful speaker to prove it.

According to the announcement, the conference might be a candidate by lawyer Ben Crump, a well -known lawyer for civil rights, who helped win a breakthrough settlement settlement for Henrietta, there’s an absence of a family regarding the unauthorized use of its cells. As the founding father of Ben Crump Law PLLC, he supported the importance of black entrepreneurship as a method of making wealth, basic message and conference mission.

The conference, which was founded by Booker T. Washington in 1900, was previously often called the National Negro Business League. For over 100 years, the conference gathered mental leaders, activists and latest generation creators.

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Crump, who represented the families of Tracvon Martin, Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, Martin Lee Anderson, Breonna Taylor, has mastered civil and economic justice for over 20 years.

Last yr, Crump represented a former Google worker after a technological giant was under fire for discriminating his employees. The employees filed a lawsuit in March 2022 in the American District Court for the northern California district, claiming that business “He is involved in the” pattern and practice “of unfair treatment [also] He claims that the company directed them to lower and lower paid jobs and surrendered to a hostile work environment if they speak, “as Essence informed earlier.

Ben Crump lawyer he said“Google claims that the basic value No. 1 is figure with great people … When you accept the allegations of those minorities, and you furthermore mght have a look at the data, then he got here to the conclusion that Google thinks that great persons are white people.

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Ben Crump

60 years after the murder of Malcolm X, his family calls to separate government files – essence

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Pioneer Malcolm X becomes the 1st black distinction in the Nebraska Hall of Fame

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It has been 60 years since the leader of Malcolm X was murdered on (*60*) 21, 1965 in New York, but his family continues to be demanding a solution. On the anniversary of his murder of his daughter, next to Ben Crump’s lawyer, they renewed a call to the federal government to reject long documents related to his murder.

“We think that this month of black history, now more than ever, we must tell the story of Malcolm X, one of the greatest mental leaders of the 20th century,” said Crump at a press conference in Manhattan on Friday,CBS News Reports.

Crump indicated earlier jet efforts, including the executive order of President Trump about the release of documents related to the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. “On this historic day on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the murder of Malcolm X, we formally ask the president to disinfect [the] Malcolm X files, “he said.

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Malcolm X daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, repeated this demand. “Please only separate our father’s documentation, together with President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and, of course, Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, “she said.

The family calls for these files until May 19, which could be a birthday of the leader of civil rights. This renewed emphasis on transparency occurs only a number of months after the Malcolm X family filed a lawsuit of $ 100 million against NYPD, FBI and the CIA, claiming that law enforcement authorities conspired to facilitate his murder, after which covered their commitment.

“Based on what we learned, examining these claims regarding our lawsuit on behalf of the Malcolm X estate, we are convinced that these records will show that in the 1950s there was a” deep state “like Martin Luther. Deliberate Malcolm X. These records will lie naked – said Crump.

The claim claims that the government not only didn’t protect Malcolm X, but in addition actively acted against him. “Despite the importance of gravity of threats, the FBI does not protect Malcolm X, instead actively threatens his safety, arresting his security team a few days before the murder,” says the criticism.

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Crump emphasized that these documents should be fully released without the editor. “These vile deeds must be publicly released so that they can serve as a moment that can be taught,” he said.

History has already proved that the official history of Malcolm X’s murder was deeply defective. Three men were sentenced to his murder and doomed to live in prison. But in 2021, two of them – Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam – were released after hearing many years behind bars.

Aziz was released after 20 years, but Islam never lived when he saw his name. Their families finally received $ 36 million in the undisputed convicting settlement.

“The American nation deserves to learn the truth about the federal government aiming Malcolm X and the final hiding so that his family and the American people never strive for justice committed harm,” said Crump.

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The Friday press conference took place in the very place where Malcolm X was murdered – the former Audubon ballroom, currently referred to as Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. Standing in the space where her father took his last breath, Ilyasah Shabazz thought of the burden of the moment.

“I think about my mother, 60 years ago to this day, coming here and witnessing her husband’s murder and giving him a consolation when he took his last breath, here in this space, and focus and exchange this place in the Shabazz Center for others,” she said. “It was a challenge, but we could have quite a bit of faith that we are going to find a way to confirm his murder.

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