The family of Henrietta Lacks is filling another claim against another large corporation a week after settling their lawsuit against Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Launched against California biopharmaceutical company Ultragenyx, the lawsuit was filed in a Baltimore court on Thursday.
Their latest legal action is part of the family’s aim to ensure that large pharmaceutical companies and other entities aren’t able to continue to profit from the racist medical system that took advantage of Lacks decades ago.
Similar to the recently settled lawsuit against Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., in the lawsuit, the family claims that Ultragenyx has continued to capitalize on the HeLa cells that were unjustly taken from Lacks in 1951. The family also claims that Ultragenyx has failed to inform and seek permission from her living descendants for their use.
“Ultragenyx’s choice to continue utilizing HeLa cells despite the cell line’s origin and the concrete harm it inflicts on the Lacks family can only be understood as a choice to embrace a legacy of racial injustice embedded in the U.S. research and medical systems,” said Attorney Ben Crump in a statement. “Like anyone else, Black people have the right to control their bodies.”
In 1951, Lacks had tissue from her cervix taken unethically from her; during a procedure for her cervical cancer, The John Hopkins Hospital took the tissue without informing her that they’ll be doing so during her surgery.
Lacks herself passed away shortly under the hospital’s care in the same year on Oct. 4, 1951 and was buried in an unmarked grave. Meanwhile, with the tissue that was stolen from her, The John Hopkins Hospital created HeLa cells.
The cells were part of a major scientific breakthrough as they are considered to be the first cells that thrived in laboratories outside of the body. Using Lacks’ HeLa cells, the hospital began to conduct a variety of studies that continue to span up to modern times, developing treatments such as vaccines for polio and COVID-19 as well as in vitro fertilization.
The announcement of the latest lawsuit comes just a week after what would have been Lacks’ 103rd birthday. In honor of the date, the settlement against Thermo Fisher was announced for an undisclosed amount. Despite the usage of the HeLa cells for over seven decades, the settlement was the first time that the family of Lacks was compensated for them.
“Medical research has a long, troubled racial history,” said the attorneys representing the Lacks’ family per AP News. “The exploitation of Henrietta Lacks represents the unfortunately common struggle experienced by Black people throughout American history. Indeed, Black suffering has fueled innumerable medical progress and profit, without just compensation or recognition.”
