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posted by Fnord666 on Friday February 24 2017, @09:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the DIY-medicine-cabinet dept.

Dr. Mixael Laufer and the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective intend to reverse-engineer pharmaceuticals so that the public can make them themselves:

Laufer had already been working through the idea of how to provide free medication to people in need, but the close call with his own health deepened his conviction to solve the problem. So in 2015, he launched the Four Thieves Vinegar collective—a group of guerrilla hackers and scientists working to reverse-engineer critical pharmaceuticals and provide assistance with the synthesis of the compounds with the goal of providing "open-source" healthcare. The collective's goal is to shift the balance of power for making crucial healthcare choices back into the hands of the individuals, empowering people to make DIY versions of drugs and medical devices in their own homes.

[...] What Laufer intends to do is provide the means for the public to create their own pharmaceuticals when no alternatives are available. At the heart of his philosophy is the idea that healthcare is an inalienable human right that supersedes any laws of property. As Laufer explained, "There shouldn't be anything keeping anybody from any query. What is the most fundamental human right? The rights we have over our own bodies and minds. We should have the ability to explore intellectually and treat our body in whatever way we see fit." Last summer, the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective released plans for a $30 version of the Epi-Pen, which it calls the Epi-Pencil. In 2016, it also released the outline for Daraprim, the drug made famous by Martin Shkreli, who jacked up the price in 2015. Laufer said he doesn't track how many people use the plans, since his objective is simply to make them available to those who want them. "I don't know, and I make a point not to make it my business," he told me.

Some, including members of the medical community, have warned of the dangers of self-producing pharmaceuticals at home. "It's all fun and games until your product gets contaminated and you get a giant abscess in your muscle," one chemist told the Daily Beast. Others have criticized the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective for making it easier for drug manufacturers to produce illegal substances. But as Laufer sees it, if people find themselves in a place of desperate need, the consequences of home-brewed medications may be a calculated risk. Earlier this year, when it became clear that the Affordable Care Act would be under threat, Laufer said he started hearing more from people with serious health issues who were desperate for his help. "I got a flood of emails from people asking, 'How do I make this work?' and 'I'm gonna die in 19 days if I don't get this to work,'" he told me. "It's been hard." Will open-source pharmaceuticals be the answer for all Americans? Probably not. But it could be a potential option for people without any other options.

So far the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective website has instructions on building an "EpiPencil", which is an epinephrine autoinjector, and an "alpha" release for the synthesis of Pyrimethamine, a drug that costs pennies per dose outside of the U.S. The site also has a public PGP key, onion address (4thievzv3hh26qeh.onion), and a warrant canary.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by lx on Friday February 24 2017, @10:47AM

    by lx (1915) on Friday February 24 2017, @10:47AM (#471054)

    I love it.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Insightful=3, Disagree=1, Total=4
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by c0lo on Friday February 24 2017, @12:15PM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday February 24 2017, @12:15PM (#471068) Journal

    I love it.

    Give sciencemadness.org [sciencemadness.org] a try.
    Many of my searches landed me in their forum.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by lx on Friday February 24 2017, @12:30PM

      by lx (1915) on Friday February 24 2017, @12:30PM (#471072)

      Thanks!
      Looks like a place I could get lost in for hours.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 24 2017, @12:50PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday February 24 2017, @12:50PM (#471076) Journal

        Looks like a place I could get lost in for hours.

        Yes, that's a risk.
        (then the other risks start when doing something on there in your kitchen)

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday February 24 2017, @11:36PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday February 24 2017, @11:36PM (#471364) Journal

      I love you.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 25 2017, @12:58PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 25 2017, @12:58PM (#471476)

        I love you.

        Go away, you are ugly.

        (grin)