Henrietta Lacks: Family of woman whose cells were 'stolen' settles second lawsuit

The family of a black woman whose cervical cells were harvested in 1951 without her knowledge and replicated infinitely ever since has reached a settlement with a second biotech company.

The Switzerland-based company Novartis was accused in a lawsuit of profiting from Henrietta Lacks' cells, which were taken without consent but have enabled huge advances in medical science.

Lacks' family never received any compensation, and have fought for years to get justice for the "stolen" cells.

Nearly three years ago, the family settled with another biotech company, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, for undisclosed terms.

Lacks, a 31-year-old mother from Baltimore, Maryland, began experiencing pain in her abdomen and abnormal bleeding in 1951. She was examined by gynaecologists at Johns Hopkins Hospital, who discovered a large mass on her cervix.

Without informing her or asking for permission, doctors sent a sample of her tumour to a lab for medical research before treating her for aggressive cervical cancer.

But, while nearly all cell cultures died quickly in the lab, those taken from Ms Lacks continued to multiply and didn't age, making them "immortal". This meant that scientists all over the world could replicate experiments using identical cells.

The cell line, called "HeLa" after the patient's first and last name, was sent to research labs around the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), HeLa cells have led to the creation of the polio vaccine and advancements in HIV, cancer and infertility research.

But the same properties that made the cells a scientific miracle also made them lethal. Months after her diagnosis, Lack died from cancer at just 31 and was buried in an unmarked grave.

Seventy years after her death, her family filed a lawsuit against Novartis in the state of Maryland. Several other lawsuits against other drug companies remain ongoing.

The details of the latest settlement have not been disclosed.

"Members of the family of Henrietta Lacks and Novartis are pleased they were able to find a way to resolve this matter filed by Henrietta Lacks's estate outside of court," said a joint statement by her family and Novartis.

"The terms of the agreement are confidential."

A lawyer for her family, Ben Crump, told the New York Times that the family members are satisfied by the settlement.

"For the family and her grandchildren, this is certainly justice because people said they would never realize any benefit or compensation from her immortal HeLa cells, even though these pharmaceutical companies were profiting billions and billions of dollars," he said.

He described the agreement as "some measure of justice, to offer respect and dignity to the life that was taken".