Question

Henrietta Lacks signed a consent form that said, “I hereby consent to the staff of The Johns Hopkins Hospital to perform any operative procedures and under any anaesthetic either local or general that they may deem necessary in the proper surgical care and treatment of:_____________” (p. 31). Based on this statement, do you believe TeLinde and Gey had the right to obtain a sample from her cervix to use in their research? What information would they have had to give her for Henrietta to have given informed consent? Do you think Henrietta would have given explicit consent to have a tissue sample used in medical research if she had been given all the information?

Answer 1

No TeLinde and Gey are not having any rights to take her cervical cells for their research.Involving clients in medical research without their knowledge is a crime and punishable offense.It is a illegal act.The informed consent must have the information about the diagnosis and surgery need to perform.Only to treat the particular condition they can perform any surgery.Only to this information the client should give consent.But it not meant that can perform any surgery apart from the diagnosis and the needed surgery.If the client is needed for medical research they must first inform it to the client and get the permission. If the patient is willing to provide participation in the research then after by proper documents signed by the client can take necessary steps.The medical research must be safe it should be harmless to the client.It should not affect the client in any way.It is not a explicit consent.The consent they are providing only to treat their conditions there you are not mentioning about the medical research.It is a crime against the client.