BALTIMORE — The family of Henrietta Lacks has reached a settlement over the use of the Baltimore woman's cells.
Their lawsuit was against the bio tech company called Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. The family claimed the company unjustly profited off of the use of her cells.
The terms of the settlement are confidential and the lawyers have plans moving forward to bring cases against other pharmaceutical companies.
They argue that if these companies can make money, the family should receive compensation.
Attorneys for the Lacks' family also said that the U.S. Congress has put forth a resolution for Lacks to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor.
Lacks was an African American woman and mother of five.
In 1951, she went to Johns Hopkins to be treated for cervical cancer.
While she was being treated at the hospital, doctors removed some of her cells without her permission. These cells are otherwise known as HeLa cells.
According to Hopkins Medicine, around that time they would take cancerous cells to the lab for research and they noticed Lacks' cells were multiplying every 20 to 24 hours instead of dying like everyone else’s-- and that’s what birthed the HeLa cell.
It’s been used to help develop the polio vaccine and treatment for things like cancer and HIV and AIDS.
"She has given the world an incredible contribution that has changed modern medicine for the last 70 years," Attorney Ben Crump said.
Lacks died in 1951, but her cells continued to be used for science.
"Using and studying and researching vaccines and medicine based on this Black woman’s genetic materials. Her contributions have improved the quality of life for people all across America, all across the world," Crump said.
Lacks leaves behind one living son, Lawerence, who’s 86-years-old and a host of grandchildren and other family members who say they want the world to know her legacy and how much she meant to society.
