The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - Assignment Example

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Question After receiving cell samples from Henrietta Lacks’ cervix, Doctor George Otto Gey became increasingly obsessed with the cells. The doctor carried out a number of researches on the cells thereby forgetting the wellbeing of the actual patient. The surprise on his assistant’s face, when he thought of Henrietta Lacks, was a portrayal of the level of deviation they had adopted in the case. This proves that indeed doctors and scientists view their patients as specimen.

Doctors and scientists become interested in making scientific discoveries instead of concentrating on treating their patients. As such, they use both the patients and samples from her to carry out tests with the view to making discoveries. Howard W. Jones, the doctor who treated Lacks for the first time at Johns Hopkins Hospital handed over the cells to Gey and forgot about the case. The next time he returns to Lacks’ case is after her death when the hospital carries out a partial autopsy (Skloot, 2011).

The did this to understand the behavior of the cells thereby considering her lifeless body as a piece of specimen that would help advance the scientific research. Question 2Patents are exclusive rights that a state gives to an individual for a discovery. As such, the individual gains financial benefits from disclosing the information about the discovery for a period. The above definition of patents shows that the rights protect inventions. The definition, therefore, makes the ownership of genetic material controversial since no human can invent genetic materials.

The fact that there exist trillions of copies of every gene coupled with the fact that genes lack the quality of inventiveness makes it ridiculous to try and patent such. I, therefore, believe that patenting of genetic materials is wrong. Most people strive to patent such in order to maximize profitability (Moore, 2005). While such is the case, increase in patenting such information would lead to increased secrecy in scientific researches. Researchers should make genetic information public in order to enhance scientific research.

This may help improve the quality of life in the society. Question 3In the health facility I work for, initiating a patient related research is a systematic process that begins with informing the patient. The doctors explain to the patients the nature of their ailment and explain the importance of the researches. After that, the doctors seek the patient’s permission to take samples of their specimen. After giving a consent to the research process, the doctors initiates the research that in most cases require the extraction of cell samples among other forms of specimen from the patients.

Nurses play an integral role in the entire process. In assisting the doctors, a nurse may explain the entire process to the patient and proceed to take the samples from the patients in case such processes are simple enough for a nurse to undertake. Additionally, nurses care for the patient during the process thereby ensuring that the patient does not experience any inconvenience and does not suffer from any secondary infections owing to the processes. Nurses monitor the patients thereby updating both the doctor and the patient in case of a development in the course of the research.

ReferencesMoore, A. D. (2005). Information ethics: Privacy, property, and power. Seattle: University of Washington Press.Skloot, R. (2011). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Broadway Paperbacks.