" 'There is a possible danger,' Southman wrote, 'of initiating neoplastic disease by accidental inoculation during laboratory investigation, or by injection with such cells or cell products if they should be used for production or virus vaccine.' "
I can't help but become more & more infuriated as I read this book. It's just so ironic that the very same doctor (Southman) that was afraid working with the HeLa cells so closely would go & inject cancer patients with those very same cells to see if their cancer would get any worse. But they already had cancer so what does it matter right? Not everyone he experimented on had cancer, he eventually injected prisoners without cancer & found their body eventually rejected it anyways & the HeLa cells actually made their immune system stronger. But they were prisoners so they probably deserved it right? What about all the patients he injected with HeLa cells without their consent. Honestly, consent is everything: in science, in relationships, TO SHOW GENERAL RESPECT FOR ANYONE AS A HUMAN BEING & yet... the morals of scientists vary greatly from not only those they experiment on but also the general public. It's no wonder Southman & Mandel (the guy telling his doctors to inject HeLa into patients at his hospital) were rightly prosecuted. Their work was compared to that of the Nazi experiments on Jewish prisoners & the case was compared to the Nuremberg Trails that eventually led to the creation of the Nuremberg Code where the first line reads, "The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential." But Southman & Mandel weren't the only ones performing unethical experiments. "Night doctors" were what those who lived near Hopkins, the hospital where Henrietta was treated, referred to the doctors that kidnapped black children & adults in the middle of the night to perform experiments on. Reading Henrietta's family discuss this was fascinating: these were real people that were never taken into account until they could be used for the benefit & "progression" of science. Scientists were making millions off of Henrietta's cells & her family couldn't even afford healthcare. Even if they could, their mistrust & hatred for doctors would prevent them from going anyhow.
What I find particularly enraging is that this kind of thing still happens today. Not necessarily the "night doctors" but the kind of corruption & deceit that those in power use to manipulate others. It's disgusting.
No Questions.
I can't help but become more & more infuriated as I read this book. It's just so ironic that the very same doctor (Southman) that was afraid working with the HeLa cells so closely would go & inject cancer patients with those very same cells to see if their cancer would get any worse. But they already had cancer so what does it matter right? Not everyone he experimented on had cancer, he eventually injected prisoners without cancer & found their body eventually rejected it anyways & the HeLa cells actually made their immune system stronger. But they were prisoners so they probably deserved it right? What about all the patients he injected with HeLa cells without their consent. Honestly, consent is everything: in science, in relationships, TO SHOW GENERAL RESPECT FOR ANYONE AS A HUMAN BEING & yet... the morals of scientists vary greatly from not only those they experiment on but also the general public. It's no wonder Southman & Mandel (the guy telling his doctors to inject HeLa into patients at his hospital) were rightly prosecuted. Their work was compared to that of the Nazi experiments on Jewish prisoners & the case was compared to the Nuremberg Trails that eventually led to the creation of the Nuremberg Code where the first line reads, "The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential." But Southman & Mandel weren't the only ones performing unethical experiments. "Night doctors" were what those who lived near Hopkins, the hospital where Henrietta was treated, referred to the doctors that kidnapped black children & adults in the middle of the night to perform experiments on. Reading Henrietta's family discuss this was fascinating: these were real people that were never taken into account until they could be used for the benefit & "progression" of science. Scientists were making millions off of Henrietta's cells & her family couldn't even afford healthcare. Even if they could, their mistrust & hatred for doctors would prevent them from going anyhow.
What I find particularly enraging is that this kind of thing still happens today. Not necessarily the "night doctors" but the kind of corruption & deceit that those in power use to manipulate others. It's disgusting.
No Questions.