Cancer isn't the only disease represented in Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Cootie, for instance, contracted polio as a child and was only able to receive treatment because his doctors lied about his race, passing off his light skin as White in order to get him in an iron lung, which at that time was reserved for White patients. Sonny, Henrietta's son, underwent a quintuple bypass on his heart, which left him with $125,000 in medical bills. Zakariyya, Henrietta's youngest son, was a volunteer subject in many medical experiments until he began losing his sight and hearing; later in life he was admitted to an assisted living facility because of these conditions. Deborah suffered from stress-related illnesses, including erratic behavior and hives. She had multiple strokes due to stress and also had to move into an assisted living facility at the end of her life. Years after HeLa cells became ubiquitous in medical research, scientists discovered that Henrietta's cancer was caused by the recently-identified HPV virus. And then of course there's Henrietta's eldest daughter Elsie, who was born with epilepsy and mental handicaps. This preponderance of medical problems in one family reflects the fact that most of the Lackses did not have medical insurance.