Henrietta Lacks’ family sues Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. for using its cells without consent

On Monday, the estate of Henrietta Lacks sued a biotech company over allegations it was selling cells that doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took from the black woman in 1951 without her knowledge or consent.

Lacks died of cervical cancer, and tissue was taken from his tumor before his death in 1951. They were the first human cells to be successfully cloned. Since then they have been reproduced endlessly and have become known as a line called HeLa Cells, a very durable cell line used for scientific research and which has become the key to modern medicine. The cell line has enabled a wide range of scientific and medical innovations, including the development of the polio vaccine, genetic mapping, and COVID-19 vaccines.

The consent procedures used today in medicine and scientific research did not exist when Lacks’ cells were harvested, but lawyers for his family say Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., of Waltham, Mass., Continued. to take advantage of the HeLa cell.

“It is scandalous that this company thinks it owns intellectual property rights over its grandmother’s cells. Why do they have intellectual rights over his cells and can they benefit from billions of dollars when his family, his flesh and blood, his black children, get nothing? One of the family’s attorneys, Ben Crump, said Monday at a press conference outside the federal courthouse in Baltimore.

In the 1950s, a group of white Johns Hopkins doctors attacked black women with cervical cancer. They cut tissue samples from the cervix of their patients without their knowledge or consent, according to the lawsuit.

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For its part, Johns Hopkins Medicine claims to have looked at its interactions and says it “has never sold or profited from the discovery or distribution of HeLa cells and does not own the rights to the HeLa cell line”, but acknowledges ethical responsibility.

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Johns Hopkins said he never sold or profited from cell lines, but many companies have patented ways to use them. Crump said these distributors made billions from genetic material “stolen” from Lacks’ body.

Another family lawyer, Christopher Seeger, alluded to related claims against other companies.

Thermo Fisher Scientific “shouldn’t feel too lonely because they’re going to have a lot of company soon,” Seeger said.

The lawsuit asks the court to order Thermo Fisher Scientific to “return the full amount of its net profits obtained by marketing the HeLa cell line to the estate of Henrietta Lacks.” He also wants Thermo Fisher Scientific to be permanently banned from using HeLa cells without the permission of the estate.

On its website, the company says it generates around $ 35 billion in annual revenue. A company spokesperson reached by phone did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.

HeLa cells were discovered to have unique properties. While most of the cell samples died shortly after being removed from the body, its cells survived and thrived in the labs. This exceptional quality allowed her cells to be cultivated indefinitely – they became the first immortalized human cell line – allowing scientists to replicate studies using identical cells.

The remarkable science involved – and the impact on the Lacks family, some of whom suffered from chronic illnesses without health insurance – was documented in a 2010 bestselling book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. Oprah Winfrey portrayed her daughter in an HBO story film. The lawsuit was filed exactly 70 years after the day of his death, October 4, 1951.

“The exploitation of Henrietta Lacks represents the sadly common struggle experienced by blacks throughout history,” says the lawsuit. “Indeed, the suffering of blacks has fueled countless medical advancements and profits, without fair compensation or recognition. Various studies, both documented and undocumented, have thrived on the dehumanization of blacks. “

The current racial climate may work in favor of the Lacks family.

A professor of public policy at the University of Michigan said Lacks’ trial comes at a time when the family may very well have a sympathetic audience.

“We are at a point, not only after the murder of George Floyd but also the pandemic, where we have seen structural racism in action in all kinds of places,” said Shobita Parthasarathy, who has researched the issues. of intellectual property in biotechnology. “We keep talking about a racial calculation, and this racial calculation also occurs in science and medicine.”

Lawrence Lacks Jr., one of Henrietta Lacks’ grandsons, said the family was “united” behind the case.

“It’s about time,” said Ron Lacks, another grandson. “Seventy years later, we are in mourning for Henrietta Lacks and we will celebrate the taking back of control of the legacy of Henrietta Lacks. This will not be passed on to another generation of Lackses.