Henrietta Lacks and Healthcare Leadership
This article evaluates the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story about the personal life of Henrietta, her family, the cell line, along with the complexities of medical research and medical ethics. By recounting many medical discoveries and advancements made possible by the cultivation of Henrietta’s cancer cells, the book highlights the significance of Henrietta’s involuntary contributions to science. Rebecca Skloot shows how the Lacks family continued to suffer even though medical research was booming due to Henrietta’s harvested cells and how things never were made right.
Skloot’s Portrayal of Henrietta and the Lacks Family
The book did an excellent job of illustrating the significance of Henrietta Lack’s life, contributions to science, and the impact on her family; it also showed how important it is to consider ethics when evaluating research and medicine. In my opinion, there were no problematic elements as to how Skloot portrays Lacks and her family. Skloot maintained a neutral tone throughout her book and presented the facts and lives of the people in it. She respected everyone’s wishes and maintained integrity. As shown in chapter 21, when Deborah agreed to work with Skloot on the biography and established the foundation of respect and trust that drove the creation of this book. “I just need somebody I can trust, somebody that will talk to me and don’t keep me in the dark.’ [Deborah] asked me to promise I wouldn’t hide anything from her. I promised I wouldn’t (Skloot, 2011, pg. 403). Henrietta Lacks has been the subject of numerous reports, but other journalists focused on the story of HeLa cells rather than learning from or about her and her family.
Christoph Lengauer’s Quote
In the book, Christoph Lengauer said that whenever we read books about science, it’s always about HeLa, and people know that they are the initials of a person, but they don’t know who that person is and that is essential information (Skloot, 2011). It is essential to know the story of Henrietta Lacks not only for research purposes but to acknowledge her contributions. As soon as HeLa cells were discovered, scientists never thought about the person they came from. For example, when Mary Kubicek, George Gey’s assistant, described her participation in Henrietta’s autopsy, she said, “when I saw those toenails, I nearly fainted. I started imaging her sitting in her bathroom painting those toenails, and it hit me for the first time that those cells we’d been working with all this time and sending all over the world, they came from a live woman. I’d never thought of it that way” (Skloot, 2011, p.172). By ignoring where the cells came from and forgetting the humanity of the patient, Kubiecek’s shock shows just how far Kubiecek’s work and Gey’s research went in ignoring the origin of the cells. Their ability to depersonalize a body signals a disturbing aspect of her training as a medical researcher.
Ethical Leadership Lessons
Reading the story of Henrietta Lacks has highlighted the importance of laws, regulations, procedures, and ethical behavior. I have learned that making decisions should always be done with compassion, respect, and responsibility, knowing that every decision has a ripple effect. Ethical missteps can destroy the bond between a physician and patient or supervisor and employee. In order to foster trust, accountability, and respect, leaders need to adhere to high ethical standards. In this book, an emphasis is placed on the significance of ethical principles in medical research to determine the appropriate research type. Having strong ethical standards in health organizations prevents research and patient care from crossing the line.
Unethical Practice Preventions
One of the ways to prevent unethical behaviors is to create a code of conduct. A written code of conduct provides medical health providers with an outline of the organization’s expectations for ethical behavior and practices. The first step is to identify common missteps and how to avoid them. Second, routinely provide ethics training to promote awareness of the ethical practice in the company. Continuous training will help maintain a positive corporate culture and upholds a strong public image (Kastner, 2016). Finally, create a reporting system to enable employees to report ethical violations to their supervisors anonymously. This is one of the best enforcement tools to ensure that employees follow the company’s policies and legal regulations.
Conclusion
Henrietta Lack’s story addresses the fundamental issues of ethics, race, privacy, and consent in the medical field. The book emphasizes the importance of doctors and scientists keeping their sense of humanity in mind when conducting scientific research or caring for their patients. “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is a story that will resonate throughout my career and hopefully remind me of the importance of adopting ethical behavior while pursuing my aspirations.
References
Kastner, N. (2016, June 29). The Importance of Ethics Training Programs. Retrieved from https://blog.ung.edu/mba/the-importance-of-ethics-training-programs/
Skloot, R. (2011). The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. NY: Broadway Books.