Henrietta Lacks Pt Four- Spleen on Me, When You're Not Strong

This episode we get a bit more into how the family was effected by the news that part of their mother was still alive. We talk about the founding of John Hopkins and the pretty warranted fears that the black community had for night doctors and scientists looking to use black bodies for experiments. Then we get into the beginning of a legal debate determining whether we should retain property rights to parts of our body once they are disguarded. We talk about Ted Slaven who set up his own deal with the pharmaceutical companies to sell his blood eventually starting a company to produce and sell biological products splitting profits directly with the donors as partners. Slaven's blood would eventually be used to create a Hepatitis Vaccine. We also talk about John Moore who had an incredibly rare type of Leukemia and a 22 lbs spleen. The cell line created with his spleen and samples taken were valued at  three billion dollars. He would eventually take UCLA and his doctor to court suing them for theft of his body. Hope you enjoy!Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!