Informed consent
Throughout the novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, social justice issues are present. One of the most prominent social justice issue that causes most problems, is the lack of informed consent. Even in today's medical workplace the rules, idea, and procedure of informed consent is quite unclear. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of informed consent is "a formal agreement that a patient signs to give permission for a medical procedure ( such as a surgery) after having been told about the risks, benefits, etc." or " consent to surgery by a patient or to participation in a medical experiment by a subject after achieving an understanding of what is involved". Ms. Skloot simplifies the understanding of the social justice mater by writing, “Informed consent focused on what doctors were required to tell their patients; there was little mention of how it might apply to research". Here is where we start to see the social justice issues arise. Because the definition is unclear about what type of medical procedures apply to the definition, doctors then and now either get too much consent or too little. During the 1950's doctors had their patient sign an operation permit however, most patients who sign it do not understand what the permit is saying, what the risks/benefits are, or any information the doctor has given them. This unfortunately only covers one half of the informed consent; it is giving consent to the doctors to do what is necessary but they do not know the risks or benefits. Henrietta was one of these patients. Not only was she not informed of the risks or benefits but also, she was not informed of the sampling and research and further more given consent to it. Hence, the social injustices that angered many. These injustices can all be solved with a few simple solutions; changing the definition and law on informed consent so that it is necessary for everything not just medical procedures when they are alive.