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Henrietta Lacks’ Harvested Cells: Is The Clock Ticking On Unjust Enrichment Claim?

Cells Were Harvested From Henrietta Lacks Without Her Knowledge Or Consent In 1951

 
• By Chloe Kent

The descendants of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose non-consensually harvested cervical cancer cells became the famous HeLa cell line, are suing Thermo Fisher Scientific. The family argue that Thermo Fisher’s ongoing profits from the various HeLa cell lines it commercializes and sells constitute unjust enrichment.

After a two-year legal battle, a district court will soon decide whether the descendants of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cervical cancer cells formed the basis for the famous HeLa cell line, can proceed with their lawsuit against Thermo Fisher Scientific. The plaintiffs contend that the company unjustly profited from the use of Lacks’ cells, but the defendants are arguing that the claim is outside that statute of limitations.

The outcome of the case may ultimately hang on what constitutes unjust enrichment from the use of living cells and how soon after a legal

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