Fed­er­al judge weighs mo­tion to dis­miss HeLa law­suit against Ther­mo Fish­er

The sto­ry of Hen­ri­et­ta Lacks’ im­mor­tal cell line and her fam­i­ly’s fight for jus­tice caught the at­ten­tion of na­tion­al me­dia out­lets and Hol­ly­wood years ago. Now, the case faces an un­cer­tain fate as a Bal­ti­more fed­er­al judge con­sid­ers toss­ing the case.

Af­ter a hear­ing on Tues­day, Judge Deb­o­rah Board­man is weigh­ing Ther­mo Fish­er’s mo­tion to dis­miss the claims against it on the grounds that the statute of lim­i­ta­tions has passed, and the con­tin­u­ing harm doc­trine does not ap­ply. Board­man is grap­pling with the “ex­tra­or­di­nar­i­ly unique facts” of the case, ac­cord­ing to Mary­land Mat­ters, which first re­port­ed the news.

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