Lacks Family Lawsuits Seek Share of Profits Stemming from HeLa Cells
Sanjukta Mondal at BioSpace reports that a suit against Novartis and Vitaris brought by the Henrietta Lacks estate questions both the morality and legality of using the line for biopharmaceutical research.
Subsequent lawsuits brought against companies for profiting from the cells have so far had positive outcomes, with a settlement in the first case, explained Dorothee Caminiti, director of bioethics at Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, in an email to BioSpace.
“It should be kept in mind, however, that the use of HeLa cells is far from the only example of the unethical use of human genetic material for research purposes,” Caminiti added.
Dorothee Caminiti, director, bioethics, quoted by BioSpace.
HeLa cervical cancer cells
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