Review
Working on the Johns Hopkins medical campus in East Baltimore, I've found it impossible to remain unaware of tensions between the hospital and the neighborhood. While Hopkins has a world-renowned reputation for excellence in both research and medical care, it also has sown the seeds of mistrust in locals, some of whom believe that the hospital exploits the black families that live nearby. In one fascinating chapter of
The Immortal Life, "Night Doctors," Rebecca Skloot relates some of these urban legends, offering the testimony of a relative of Henrietta Lacks: "'I'm telling you, I lived here in the fifties when they got Henrietta, and we weren't allowed to go anywhere near Hopkins. When it got dark and we were young, we had to be on the steps, or Hopkins might get us.'" As recently as the 1990s, residents brought lawsuits against Hopkins for failing to disclose high lead levels...
Beyond the Book
Cervical cancer, the disease that killed Henrietta Lacks, strikes 11,000-13,000 women in the United States every year, killing 4,000. While the Pap smear (developed by Greek scientist Georgio Papanikolaou) remains the most widely used and effective method for detecting pre-cancerous cells on the cervix, a new vaccine protects women from developing certain kinds of human papillomavirus (HPV), the condition that causes most cervical cancers. Yet controversy swirls around this vaccine in the United States, raising ethical issues such as whether to require mandatory vaccination for girls entering school and sparking fears that vaccinations might reduce the practice of safer sex methods or even lead to promiscuity. Others worry that the vaccine has been rushed to market without enough...
