July 31st, 2023 by WCBC Radio

US Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen have introduced a bill to posthumously award Henrietta Lacks with the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Henrietta Lacks of Baltimore died in 1951 from ovarian cancer. Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took samples of her tumor and to this day those cancer cells are still replicating – an immortal line of human cells that have been used in medical research since her death. They have been used for medical breakthroughs such as the polio vaccine and treatments for cancer, leukemia, and Parkinson’s disease.  The cells taken from Lacks were used in research without her consent or knowledge. Senator Cardin said it is long past time that her life saving contribution to the world was recognized.