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US HB3498
Bill
Status
5/19/2025
Primary Sponsor
Kweisi Mfume
Click for details
AI Summary
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Awards a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal to Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cancer cells were taken without consent in 1951 at Johns Hopkins Hospital and became the first immortal human cell line ("HeLa Cells")
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HeLa cells have contributed to development of the polio vaccine, treatments for cancer, HIV/AIDS, hemophilia, leukemia, and Parkinson's disease, with over 110,000 scientific publications citing their use between 1953-2018
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The gold medal will be given to the Smithsonian Institution for display and research, with Congress expressing that it should also be displayed at locations associated with Henrietta Lacks
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Secretary of the Treasury may strike and sell bronze duplicate medals at cost-covering prices, with proceeds deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund
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Recognizes Lacks as foundational to modern bioethics policies and informed consent laws, as her family did not learn about the commercial use of her cells for more than twenty years
Legislative Description
Henrietta Lacks Congressional Gold Medal Act
Health
Last Action
Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
5/19/2025