Henrietta Lacks estate sues company using her ‘stolen’ cells

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — The estate of Henrietta Lacks sued a biotechnology company on Monday, saying it’s been selling her cervical cells without her knowledge or consent. The cells were taken by doctors at Johns Hopkins from the terminally ill Black woman in 1951, and grown in the lab for use in countless scientific research studies since then. The federal lawsuit filed Monday in Baltimore says Thermo Fisher Scientific knowingly mass-produced and sold the tissue obtained through what it calls “a racially unjust medical system.” The lawsuit wants a court to block their use without permission and force the $35 billion company to disgorge its profits from the HeLa cells.