Health Notes: ‘Henrietta Lacks’ discussion at library

A talk on Monday evening will focus on the ethical ramifications of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” the book featured in this year’s “One Book, One Community” area-wide reading program.

Dr. Stephen Huddleston offers a particular perspective: He’s on the staff of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, which plays a key role in Rebecca Skloot’s nonfiction book. Henrietta Lacks was a poor, black woman who was treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins in the early 1950s. Without her knowledge, doctors removed cell samples from her. The cancer cells continued to reproduce in the laboratory, becoming the first “immortal cells” known to researchers. They’ve been used in medical research ever since.

Huddleston will talk about patient care, research and teaching at the famed Baltimore hospital, as well as the questions raised by the book. His talk begins at 7 p.m. in the Duluth Public Library’s Green Room.

Huddleston will join the staff of St. Luke’s hospital in Duluth in July.

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