• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Family Of Henrietta Lacks Launch A New Lawsuit Over Her “Stolen” Cells

August 6, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

The family of Henrietta Lacks has launched a new lawsuit against two multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies for using her genetic material without her consent. 

Advertisement

The living relatives of Lacks are suing Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Novartis Gene Therapies, Inc., as well as Viatris, Inc. and its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals, in the US District Court for the District of Maryland, claiming the companies have developed hundreds of patents using the “stolen” HeLa cell line and amassed huge profits doing so.

The lawsuit calls for the profits derived from the use of these cells to be “rightfully transferred” to the estate of Henrietta Lacks.

“Novartis and Viatris made conscious choices to commercialize the living genetic material of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman, grandmother, and community leader whose tissue was taken without her knowledge or consent by doctors she trusted with her life,” Chris Ayers, an attorney at Seeger Weiss LLP representing the Lacks family, said in a statement sent to IFLScience.

“We will continue to pursue justice for Mrs. Lacks and her family,” added Ayers.

Henrietta Lacks passed away from cervical cancer at the age of 31 on October 4, 1951 – although some of her cells continue to live on today. Just before her death, a physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital took a sample of her cervical cells without her knowledge during a cancer assessment. It was observed that her cells kept reproducing rapidly, long after cells from almost all other samples would have died outside their host.

Advertisement

Recognizing the potential, scientists found these cells could be a cost-effective and easy-to-use resource for expanding research capabilities. Named the “HeLa immortal cell line”, these cells have become an invaluable asset for biomedical research.

Approximately 55 million tons of these cells have been used in over 75,000 scientific studies around the world, playing an essential role in advances like the polio vaccines, treatments for cancer, HIV, AIDS, and much more.

However, all of this was achieved without Lacks’ knowledge or consent. Her family was also unaware of the cells’ commercial use for many years.

The commercialization of HeLa cells raises serious questions about medical ethics and genetics. It also highlights ongoing issues of medical racism against disenfranchised minorities, as Lacks was a Black woman living in 1950s America.

Advertisement

Despite the widespread awareness of these controversies, the HeLa cells continue to be used in commercial medical research – and help to make some corporations a lot of money. 

“The world now knows the story of Henrietta Lacks, which makes it all the more shocking, though not surprising, that pharmaceutical giants Novartis and Viatris continue to profit off the deeply unethical origins of HeLa cells and the disturbing history of medical racism,” explained Chris Seeger, another lawyer representing the family.

In 2023, the family of Lacks reached a historic agreement after filing a lawsuit against another biotech company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., in the US District Court for the District of Baltimore. At the time, the attorneys indicated that the settlement was just the tip of the iceberg and there could potentially be dozens more lawsuits involving the use of HeLa cells.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Bolivian president calls for global debt relief for poor countries
  2. Five Seasons Ventures pulls in €180M fund to tackle human health and climate via FoodTech
  3. Humanity’s Journey To A Metal-Rich Asteroid Launches Today. Here’s How To Watch
  4. Ancient DNA Reveals People Caught Leprosy From Adorable Woodland Critters In Medieval England

Source Link: Family Of Henrietta Lacks Launch A New Lawsuit Over Her "Stolen" Cells

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Why You Shouldn’t Drink Your Own Urine (Can’t Believe We Have To Write This)
  • There Is Something Odd Going On Inside The Moon
  • New Species Of Three-Eyed “Sea Moth” Hunted In Earth’s Oceans 506 Million Years Ago
  • For The First Time, Common Hospital “Superbug” Found To Break Down Medical Plastics
  • First Ever Visible Green Aurorae Seen On Mars
  • New Species Of “Heavenly” Tiny Metallic Poison Dart Frog Discovered In The Amazon
  • Homo Naledi Had Hands That Rock Climbers Would Be Jealous Of
  • Blackouts Around The World As X Class Solar Flare Hits Earth
  • Chimps Use Healing Plants To Treat Each Other’s Wounds And Clean Up After Sex
  • 356-Million-Year-Old Fossil Trackway With Claw Marks Is Probably Oldest Evidence Of Reptiles
  • Vegetarians Feel As Disgusted About Eating Meat As Omnivores Do About Cannibalism
  • Noah’s Ark Or Just A Big Mound? US Researchers Eye Up A Strange Ship-Shaped Ridge In Turkey
  • US Congressman Films Old Secret Passageway Beneath The Lincoln Room Of The Capitol Building
  • Got Stains On Your Clothes? Know When To Use Hot Or Cold Water
  • Why Do Your Towels Dry You Better When They’re Older?
  • “She Would See That Face Morph Into The Face Of A Dragon”: Strange Tales From Neuroscience At CURIOUS Live
  • A Giant Mountain Range Has Been Hidden Under Antarctica’s Ice For Millions Of Years
  • Why Did Ancient Silver Coins Have Owls On Them?
  • Ancient Humans May Have Survived In Isolated Northern Scotland During Extreme Cooling 12,000 Years Ago
  • In The Year 536 CE, A Truly Miserable Period Of Human History Began
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version