Henrietta Lacks’ family settles with medical firm after HeLa cells racism row

Lawyer Ben Crump, second from left, walks with Ron Lacks, left, Alfred Lacks Carter, third from left, both grandsons of Henrietta Lacks, and other members of her family (AP Photo/Steve Ruark, file)

The family of a black woman in the US whose cervical cells were taken without her knowledge have reached a settlement with a biotechnology company they sued in 2021, their lawyer has said.

Tissue taken by doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital from Henrietta Lacks’ tumour before she died of cervical cancer more than 70 years ago became the first human cells to be successfully cloned.