At the time the scientist did not believe they were hurting anyone be keeping Henrietta's imformation confidential.Seeing Johns Hopkids made no profit from the cells.I guess they believed they didn't have to tell the family.
Throughout the book Skloot raises several crucial questions about medical ethics and the rights of human subjects. When Henrietta went for her first cancer treatment and her cells were harvested for study, she was not asked or informed that samples would be taken. Furthermore, Henrietta was not told that the treatments she received for her cancer would leave her infertile. These two gross medical misdemeanors are a tip of the iceberg, and shockingly were not uncommon for the times. “Benevolent deception” was par for the course for many doctors, and there was no law requiring doctors to ask living patients for tissue samples. Back then, it was assumed that doctors knew best and had the best outcomes for their patients in mind when performing procedures and making decisions. In addition, many patients such as Henrietta who were Black and poor were receiving treatment for free. To doctors, this meant that using such patients as research subjects in lieu of payment was a fair trade. Whether or not such practices were justified is one of the many questions of medical ethics Skloot raises.
