In 1951, doctors took a sample of cells from a woman dying of cervical cancer without her knowledge or consent. That woman was Henrietta Lacks, and her cells turned out to be a boon to modern science. Henrietta Lacks’s cells were the first human cells that were able to reproduce in a laboratory. Because of this incredible ability, HeLa cells, as they were called, have been instrumental in all kinds of scientific research, including the development of the polio and COVID-19 vaccines. 

But Lacks’s family didn’t even know that her cells were being used in research until the 1970’s. In 2021, her family filed a lawsuit against Thermo Fisher Scientific for selling HeLa cells and attempting to patent medical treatments that had been developed with the cell line.

The case was settled this week, although the terms of the settlement remain confidential. This win might spur the family to litigate against other companies that have also profited off of HeLa cells. One of the family’s lawyers, Chris Ayers, said in a press conference: “The fight against those who profit, and chose to profit, off the deeply unethical and unlawful history and origins of the HeLa cells will continue.”

Henrietta Lacks’s story is a reminder of our country’s dark history of performing medical procedures on patients, especially black patients, without their consent. Although performing a biopsy without patient consent was legal at the time, it is not anymore. Before undergoing a procedure, your doctor must not only tell you what the procedure is, but also describe the potential risks and benefits. 

If your doctor withholds information from you that causes serious injury or death, such as failing to tell you that you have a possibly cancerous growth that did turn out to be cancer, then that would qualify as medical malpractice.