“Doctors often withheld even the most fundamental
information from their patients, sometimes not giving them any diagnosis at all” (Skloot 63)
In the opening paragraphs of Chapter 8 "A Miserable
Specimen," it begins with Henrietta returning to Johns Hopkins in early June
complaining that the cancer was back, and spreading. She declared that she
could feel it growing inside her body, but the conclusion her doctors came to
was that nothing was wrong. One doctor stated that there was no factual
evidence of any cancerous recurrence, and to return the following month. There
is reason to suspect that Henrietta did not question her doctors’ opinions
because during the 1950s, “this was a time when ‘benevolent deception’ was a
common practice,” and numerous doctors gave the excuse that they did not wish
to confuse their patients with material that they assumed could not grasp.
(Skloot 63) I believe that this way of thinking is uncalled for, especially
when dealing with matters such as a life threatening disease such as cancer.
After weeks upon weeks of dealing with excruciating pain, doctors finally used
an X-ray to examine Henrietta and what they found would be “Inoperable.” (Skloot
64) Unfortunately for Henrietta, the sadness of her situation only worsened until
she finally decided to stay at the hospital, because her trips to and from Hopkins
became unbearable.
Word Count: 202
Skloot, Rebecca. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" New York. Broadway Paperbacks, Crown Publishing, 2010. Print.
"There's no indication that Henrietta questioned him; like most patients in the 1050s she deferred to anything her doctors said" (Skloot, 63)
ReplyDeleteI believe Aubrey picked a good quote for this weeks reading. Chapter eight was very short but to me it seemed like it had a lot of important little detail in it. It told us the way John Hopkins doctors believed they should "run" the place. I know it was "normal" for segregation back then or so what many went along with because they didn't know better, however, I think it is impetuous how whites treated colored people very differently. Especially when it comes to the medical side of things. Every human being has the right to good health or at least the right to fair treatment. I do not like how the doctor’s kind of “blew her off”, meaning they never thought anything of all her pain she said she was having. It is almost like they didn't want to deal with her, or try to make her better until it was almost too late. All because “colored” people back than came in second for everything. A doctor’s job is to find out what is wrong with his or her patient and make them healthy again, not just say "no factual evidence" or something along those lines. Either way I think Aubrey picked out a good part in the reading to talk about. Good job!
Word Count: 216
Skloot, Rebecca. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" New York. Broadway Paperbacks, Crown Publishing, 2010. Print.
“This was a time when ‘benevolent deception’ was a common practice” (Skloot 63)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Aubrey’s views on the deception of medical professionals during Henrietta Lacks’ time. The doctor’s during this time knew that they could get away with just about everything, especially when it came to patients of a different race other than white. “It was understood that black people didn’t question white people’s professional judgment” (63). Henrietta had gone back to the hospital complaining that she was in pain and that the cancer was back and spreading. However, when she was examined, the doctors found nothing wrong with her and instead told Henrietta to come back the following month. It is believed that black patients did not receive the same type of treatment and so the doctors did not want to waste their time on Henrietta when a white patient could be taken care of. In my opinion, all medical professionals should only be concerned with saving the lives of human beings, regardless of race. Henrietta had a very serious condition and the doctors knew that. However, they chose to just brush her off and let it continue to develop inside of her and get worse until it was too late for them to do anything. Overall, I feel bad for Henrietta and the fact that she might’ve had a better chance if she had been a white woman during this time period.
Word Count:224
Skloot, Rebecca. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" New York. Broadway Paperbacks, Crown Publishing, 2010. Print.