The case of Henrietta Lacks became known outside the medical community thanks to a book and a film about the fate of a black American woman whose cells, without demand, served science for many years. In the 1970s, more than 20 years after Lack’s death and the creation of cell culture, scientists contacted the woman’s descendants with a request to provide them with biological material for genetic analysis (Brown, 2021).
From then until now, Henrietta’s descendants have tried to achieve compensation and recognition for the role that she, albeit unwittingly, played in modern science (“Henrietta Lacks: Science Must Right a Historical Wrong,” 2020). However, since then, the legislation has changed, and medical research has become more ethical, particularly in terms of consent to collecting biological data. Meanwhile, judging by current research and literature, the patient’s socioeconomic status still affects the availability and quality of medical care and, in general, the treatment.
Many scientific publications show the correlation between racial, ethnic, demographic, and other factors and characteristics of treatment. Thus, according to the study by Arya et al.(2018), racial characteristics still determine the patient’s fate in the diagnosis of peripheral artery disease. It turns out that the black population has a 37% higher risk of getting amputation compared to white patients regardless of the disease presentation (Arya et al., 2018).
Thus, it is clear that the problem still exists, and racial differences significantly dictate the attitude towards the patient. It is difficult to say what changes are required to avoid such situations. Outside, segregation seems to have been eliminated: there are no longer separate hospitals for blacks, patients are legally equal, unethical medical practices are persecuted. However, the statistics speak for themselves, and their scale is scary. In the meantime, the race is not the only ground for discussing the moral side of the actual differences in treatment. Factors determining a person’s sexual orientation, gender, or age are also relevant today.
It is important to note that the influence of socioeconomic status has a detrimental effect on the question of the population of the healthcare system. This, in turn, may pose a national threat because if people are afraid of doctors, then a window of opportunity opens up for the spread of dangerous diseases. Thus, the results of a study by Arpey et al. (2017) suggest that people with a lower socioeconomic status report receiving a worse-quality treatment and medical service. Moreover, there is a correlation between the status and a person’s health condition. Therefore, the danger of doctors’ bias lies in the impact on the well-being of the population.
Literature and research have considerably changed my understanding of the current situation in referring to patients. It seemed that stereotypes and prejudices had outlived themselves in the health care system because a lot has changed from the case of Henrietta Lacks. Indeed, once unethically taken, cancer cells gave an essential breakthrough for medicine. HeLa became the standard for university researchers and pharmaceutical companies and was used in some of the most important medical research of the 20th century (“Henrietta Lacks: Science Must Right a Historical Wrong,” 2020).
It tested vital drugs, including those against poliomyelitis, cancer, AIDS; HeLa studied the effects of radiation on the body, its samples were sent into space. However, it is crucial to understand that the lack of proper regulation of medical bias in the modern health care system takes thousands of lives despite all the scientific achievements.
References
Arpey, N. C., Gaglioti, A. H., & Rosenbaum, M. E. (2017). How socioeconomic status affects patient perceptions of health care: A qualitative study.Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 8(3), 169–175. Web.
Arya, S., Binney, Z., Khakharia, A., Brewster, L. P., Goodney, P., Patzer, R., Hockenberry, J., & Wilson, P. W. F. (2018). Race and socioeconomic status independently affect the risk of major amputation in peripheral artery disease. Journal of the American Heart Association, 7(2). Web.
Brown, Nadja. (2021). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. Bio 160.
Henrietta Lacks: Science must right a historical wrong. (2020). Nature, 585(7823), 7. Web.