AUGUST 2, 2023:
BALTIMORE (AP) — The family of Henrietta Lacks is settling a lawsuit against a biotechnology company it accuses of improperly profiting from her cells. Their federal lawsuit in Baltimore claimed Thermo Fisher Scientific has made billions from tissue taken without the Black woman’s consent from her cervical cancer tumor. They were the first human cells to continuously grow and reproduce in lab dishes. They became a cornerstone of modern medicine. The settlement came after closed-door negotiations all day Monday (July 31, 2023). Attorney Ben Crump represents the Lacks family. He said the terms of the agreement are confidential.
OCTOBER 4, 2021:
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — The estate of Henrietta Lacks sued a biotechnology company on Monday (Oct. 4, 2021), saying it’s been selling her cervical cells without her knowledge or consent. The cells were taken by doctors at Johns Hopkins from the terminally ill Black woman in 1951, and grown in the lab for use in countless scientific research studies since then. The federal lawsuit filed Monday in Baltimore says Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., of Rockville, Maryland, knowingly mass produced and sold the tissue obtained through what it calls “a racially unjust medical system.” The lawsuit seeks an order permanently enjoining Thermo Fisher Scientific from using the cell lines without her estate’s permission.
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