Although I think that Henrietta Lack's family should have been told what was happening to her cells, I think it was a good thing that the Doctor did not release her name into the public. Her name does not reveal her race and her race was not questioned when the magazines were inquiring about her name. Henrietta's family was also not very educated. If her name was released there could have been a possibility of other family members being exploited. In Henrietta's case it was absolute chance that she had a cell line that would reproduce quickly. She wasn't chosen from a pool of people for her cells to be taken, but her family could have been a target to see if other family members could produce cancer cells in the same way. Being uneducated would have let the doctors do whatever they wanted to their bodies. Full disclosure was not part of the doctors agenda. By the end of the book, what the family didn't know ultimately hurt them.
Compensation was also a topic that was brought up. Henrietta did not do anything to get paid however, the doctors did take something from her body. The Lacks family could have used the money but the question of how much and exactly how the family would be compensated arises. If the family was compensated with money, how much would be deemed appropriate and would they have been compensated in the first place because they were black? I don't think we can honestly say that if they were white they would have been compensated unless we have a similar example. Henrietta's story is unique because it was complete chance, so it is hard to make assumptions without bringing in what-if scenarios.
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