The family of Henrietta Lex, the African-American woman whose unknowingly removed cells revolutionized modern medicine, has reached a settlement with Thermo Fisher to end legal proceedings against the biotech company, authorities announced Tuesday (Aug 1), the family’s lawyers.
“The parties concerned are pleased to have found a way to resolve this case out of courtAttorneys Ben Crump and Chris Seeger on behalf of the family of Henrietta Lex said in a press release.
“The terms of the contract will remain confidential.“They note that almost two years after the complaint was filed in the eastern US state of Maryland.
Many lives have been saved
“His contribution to modern medicine changed and saved many lives.”, says his Twitter page (renamed “X:“) Ben Crump, a prominent lawyer specializing in civil rights and who notably represented the family of George Floyd.
In 1951, 31-year-old Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. During attempts to cure him, cells from his tumor were removed and transferred to the researcher without his knowledge. He quickly realized that his cells, renamed HeLa cells, had extraordinary properties: they could be grown in vitro, meaning outside the human body, and multiply indefinitely.
Development of cancer vaccines and treatments
Since then, they have enabled laboratories around the world to develop vaccines, especially for polio, cancer treatments and certain cloning techniques, an industry worth billions of dollars.
A breakthrough that Henrietta Lex’s family knew nothing about until the 1970s, and the scope of which they only really understood through the work of Rebecca Skloot, a 2010 bestselling author.Henrietta’s immortal life is missing“.
“They used her cells for 70 years and Lex’s family got nothing for the theft.condemned his granddaughter, Kimberly Lexie, in 2021, when the family announced its intention to file a lawsuit accusing Thermo Fisher Scientific of profiting from the marketing of the cells.
The lawsuit settlement announcement comes on Henrietta Lex’s 103rd birthday.
<div class=”fig-embed fig-embed-vid” data-module=”fig-video-figaro” data-context=”was @visible” data-html=””data-script=”https://static.lefigaro.fr/widget-video/short-ttl/video/index.js” >
Source: Le Figaro
I am John Sinkler, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in writing about entertainment-related topics and have been doing so for several years now. My work has been featured on multiple platforms and I’m proud to say that it’s gained recognition from many people in the industry. Aside from working at Buna Times, I also write freelance articles for other publications.