In "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", Rebecca Skloot provides an informational insider on the life of Henrietta Lacks- pointing out the ethical issues in Henrietta's operative. Henrietta, a woman who unknowingly had her tissue cells removed from her cervix by scientists were being used in wide-spread research. After reading "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", I started researching and came upon an article titled "Patient Safety: The Ethical Imperative". I began making connections that demonstrated and explained the problems that were present in the novel and in the article; however, many people want to argue that what is believed to be "unethical" isn't actually wrong.
Throughout the novel, a variety of ethical issues are present …show more content…
In some cases nurses and/or doctors make a mistake in prosecuting a patient's safety, they must take action; "Disclose the error to the patient." Unlike in Henrietta's case no one had told her the side effects of her treatments and she was unaware that her doctors had made multiple errors in her diagnostic; "Until that moment, Henrietta didn't know her that the treatments had left her infertile." Vicki collaborates in "Patient Safety: The Ethical Imperative", "As a patient's advocate, the nurse must speak to the appropriate person of higher authority when incompetent, unethical, illegal, or impaired practice is noted in any health care professional." For example, when TeLinde was collecting samples, no one objected not even the nurses but Dr. Lawrence Wharton jr. had the liberty to write it down on a SEPARATE sheet of paper in her records. The actions that were taken didn't just affect Henrietta but her family as well especially her daughter Deborah. Henrietta's family didn't even find out about her cells till a few years later and they don't even have medical insurance, many said they should-be been given credit; "patients and, when appropriate, their families are informed about the outcomes of care, treatment, and services that have been provided including unanticipated outcomes." Plus, they misdiagnosed her cancer since it was much more severe than
Throughout the novel, a variety of ethical issues are present …show more content…
In some cases nurses and/or doctors make a mistake in prosecuting a patient's safety, they must take action; "Disclose the error to the patient." Unlike in Henrietta's case no one had told her the side effects of her treatments and she was unaware that her doctors had made multiple errors in her diagnostic; "Until that moment, Henrietta didn't know her that the treatments had left her infertile." Vicki collaborates in "Patient Safety: The Ethical Imperative", "As a patient's advocate, the nurse must speak to the appropriate person of higher authority when incompetent, unethical, illegal, or impaired practice is noted in any health care professional." For example, when TeLinde was collecting samples, no one objected not even the nurses but Dr. Lawrence Wharton jr. had the liberty to write it down on a SEPARATE sheet of paper in her records. The actions that were taken didn't just affect Henrietta but her family as well especially her daughter Deborah. Henrietta's family didn't even find out about her cells till a few years later and they don't even have medical insurance, many said they should-be been given credit; "patients and, when appropriate, their families are informed about the outcomes of care, treatment, and services that have been provided including unanticipated outcomes." Plus, they misdiagnosed her cancer since it was much more severe than