The family of Henrietta Lacks has retained attorneys Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law and Christopher Seeger of Seeger Weiss to pursue justice concerning the unauthorized use of her cells for medical research. Lacks was a cancer patient at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore when her cells were collected by researchers without her knowledge and have virtually revolutionized medicine and have been central to the development of vaccines, gene mapping and other medical breakthroughs.
Lacks’ cells, commonly known as HeLa cells, could be grown continuously in laboratory conditions and went on to become the first human cells to be successfully cloned and have since been used continually for research into cancer treatments, AIDS treatments and many other medical discoveries. The Lacks family learned of the reproduction of Henrietta’s cells in 1975 and have never been financially compensated while trillions of dollars have been made with her involuntary contribution. She died in 1951 at the age of 31 from an aggressive strain of cervical cancer.
“The American pharmaceutical community has a shameful history of profiting off research at the expense of Black people without their knowledge, consent, or benefit, leading to mass profits for pharmaceutical companies from our illnesses and our very bodies. There is no clearer example of this than Henrietta Lacks and the seemingly endless manipulation of her genetic material. The pharmaceutical companies have been unjustly enriched by this unethical taking of her cells, while Henrietta Lacks’ family has never been afforded any equity,” Crump said during a press conference this week.
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