Question

Write a 175- to 265-word response to the following:

• How did the Lacks family, the media, and the general population view the medical community during the 1950s?
• What is the Nuremberg Code? How was it used, and was it easily enforced? Why or why not?

Answer 1

. The Lacks family, the media and the general population viewed the medical community during the 1950s with fear and embarrassment, they kept quite and pushed issues under the rug to avoid having to discuss it. The medical community was like a forbidden fruit, its there you want to know but refuse to touch on that topic because of what will follow after. The medical field was one area that no one was certain of and had many questions but no answers, and at that afraid of the answers they would get. A diagnosis that an individual did not want to hear and was ashamed is a choice she/he made and that choice will dictate the life they lived in secrecy. Mrs. Henrietta did one thing she checked herself and knew right away something was wrong, a lump a foreigner, but her shame with syphilis caused her to keep it a secret from not only her family, her husband but wasn't true to herself as well. She did tell a friend, even after that went forward to explain to her husband there was blood but it wasn't that time of the month so she needed to be checked out by the doctor. Afraid of the outcome with her womb. I see that back then in those years, testing and research and procedures were done on people without their consent whether written or verbal, let alone even informed. The medical field was there but was it really there for the people and community or for the better of the organization? Also who in that era could afford the overwhelming cost of these procedures and simple tests, including blood test, the cost of living, food and medical treatment hindered the way the people of the community viewed the meaning of their lives and how much they were willing to pay for it. The cost and financial burdens stopped people from seeking help and refuge, seeking advice and health education, they assumed, and treated themselves more with hope and to ignore the issue than to treat it. The best medicine was simple, if no one knows then I don't have it, don't mention it don't talk about and don't look sick, then your not sick. Back then it was simple, dont address it until the individual is dying or dead already, basically when it becomes serious life threatening, putting a burden on the woman or man being able to work and provide for the family, the labor they provided. The community especially Henrietta Lacks, put their trust in the medical providers and the health delivery system as a whole without doubt, so to take advantage of the situation and not give the care to her as she deserved is heartbreaking, but not shocking in those days.

The Nuremberg Code was set up to protect the human subjects in which were being used for research, it is a set of 10 ethical guidelines for human experimentation. The voluntary consent of the human subject is 100% needed. Today this is the most important influence and impact in the medical field on the U.S. law governing medical research. The following are the ten ethical guidelines that must be met

1.Voluntary Consent

2.Must be for the greater good of the Society

3.Tested previously on animals (this I do not always agree with 100%)

4.conducted without harm on mental, physical or injury

5.refrain from research if believed to cause death or disability

6.The risks should never exceed the benefits (I dont always agree with this at all) Contradicting

7.The facility being conducted in must protect the subjects

8.conducted by qualified scientists

9.Subject should always be at liberty to stop and refuse

10.Scientist in charge must be prepared to stop and terminate the experiment if death, disability or injury is suspected.

Honestly I do not think it was easily enforced because people were against it and did not obey the rules, even til today incidents occur where the subject or subjects were not aware of all that would take place or the risks and long-term effects that will arise. It did make clear the distinctions between the rights and privileges of Germans and Jews, this caused much uproar with what made an individual a German and what made you a Nazi. Also who can give consent and who is not conscious to, this law caused many others to follow behind.