BALTIMORE — The family of Henrietta Lacks' has filed a lawsuit against two pharmaceutical companies over the alleged exploitation of HeLa cells.
The suit is against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Novartis Gene Therapies Inc. (“Novartis”) as well as Viatris Inc. and its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals.
The complaint alleges these companies "unjustly" profited from Lacks' genetic material without her family's consent.
In 1951, Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer in a racially segregated ward at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Claiming that it was cancer treatment, doctors surgically extracted tissue samples from her body without her consent.
Her cells, later became known as HeLa cells, have played a large part in medicine. This includes playing a role in the polio vaccine, gene mapping and vitro fertilization.
"The world now knows the story of Henrietta Lacks, which makes it all the more shocking, though not surprising, that pharmaceutical giants Novartis and Viatris continue to profit off the deeply unethical origins of HeLa cells and the disturbing history of medical racism,” said Chris Seeger. “Representing the Lacks family and preserving Mrs. Lacks’s legacy is one of the greatest honors of my career. We pledge to hold these companies accountable for exploiting her stolen cells.”
We reached out to Novartis for comment and they didn't have one.
