Henrietta Lacks' family settles lawsuit over use of HeLa cells to advance medical research - USA Trending Blog
Henrietta Lacks' family settles lawsuit over use of HeLa cells to advance medical research - USA Trending Blog
Attorneys representing the family of Henrietta Lacks on Tuesday announced a settlement of their lawsuit against Thermo Fisher over the use of cells in scientific research.
The lawsuit demanded the family be paid for the company's use of Lacks' cells, which were taken without consent in the 1950s and used in research. Lacks' cells were biopsied when she visited Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment of cervical cancer.
Known as HeLa cells, the cells from Lacks' body led advanced research in a wide range of medical fields, including vaccine development, cancer treatments and AIDS research.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and attorney Chris Seeger released a statement about the settlement on Tuesday, which would have been Lacks' 103rd birthday.
"Members of the family of Henrietta Lacks and Thermo Fisher have agreed to settle the litigation filed by Henrietta Lacks’ Estate, in U.S. District Court in Baltimore," the statement said. "The terms of the agreement will be confidential. The parties are pleased that they were able to find a way to resolve this matter outside of Court and will have no further comment about the settlement."
Thermo Fisher representatives confirmed the settlement but said in a statement they also had no further comment.
Her cells became fundamental to medicineBut Henrietta Lacks' cells were taken without consent.
How were Henrietta Lacks' cells obtained?
Lacks was 31 when she received treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951 for cervical cancer. Dr. George Gey collected a sample of tissue on a tumor in her body without her knowledge. The case was chronicled in the 2010 best-selling book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," which was later adapted into an HBO film starring Oprah Winfrey.
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