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

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”