However, she was never informed what exact procedures were going to be performed and why, which goes against all criteria of informed consent. From a legal standpoint, the doctors received all the consent they needed to perform the cell biopsy, as she did sign a form stating her consent for the doctors to вЂњperform any operative proceduresвЂ¦that they may deem necessaryвЂќ (Skloot 77). The morality of the doctorвЂ™s treatment of Lacks is heavily scrutinized, as no informed consent was given by Lacks.

At the time, Johns Hopkins was one of the only hospitals in the Baltimore area that had a вЂњcoloredвЂќ wing where they would treat black patients.

Skloot begins the book by talking about HenriettaвЂ™s childhood and life as a young adult, where she lived in impoverished circumstances and was obviously not able to receive convenient and consistent medical treatment. While performing her first radiation treatment, the doctors also took a sample of her cancerous cells which became the first human вЂњimmortal cellsвЂќ known as вЂњHeLaвЂќ which were a key part of the advancement of many medical treatments including chemotherapy and the polio vaccine. SklootвЂ™s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of a 31-year-old African American woman who was treated for an aggressive form of cervical cancer in 1951 which she died of a year later.

Henrietta lacks immortal life