Novartis settles with Henrietta Lacks' estate over use of her cancer cells to advance medicine

Novartis has settled a lawsuit filed by the estate of Henrietta Lacks, which accused the pharmaceutical company of unjustly profiting from her cells. Lacks' cells were taken without her knowledge or consent in 1951 from a tumor and subsequently reproduced in labs worldwide. These "HeLa" cells have been instrumental in countless medical breakthroughs, including the development of the polio vaccine. The settlement addresses long-standing ethical concerns regarding the commercial use of human biological materials obtained without consent. This resolution marks a significant moment in the ongoing efforts to acknowledge and compensate for historical injustices in medical research.