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Biohacker Josiah Zayner accused of being an unlicensed practitioner
Celebrity biohacker Josiah Zayner says he's under investigation for practicing medicine without a license. The onetime NASA scientist, known on social media for his DIY medical procedures, was sent a letter by the California Department of Consumer Affairs after it received a "complaint of unlicensed practice of medicine" against Zayner. While anyone can file a complaint with California's medical board, the fact it is now investigating means it considers the accusations credible.
WTF!!!! I have been accused of practicing medicine without a license because of genetic self-experimentation and showing people how to access publicly available knowledge.
The truth is... https://t.co/j9Yoy0rKPR
— Josiah Zayner (@4LOVofScience) May 14, 2019
Biohackers are individuals that perform medical experiments outside university labs and accredited companies. Zayner found fame online for a raft of stunts, including carrying out a fecal transplant and injecting his own arm with CRISPR. He's also well known for his disdain for the US Food and Drug Administration, which he accuses of blocking innovation and putting lives at risk.
[...]California's medical board has requested an interview with Zayner on June 11th, informing him he is "welcome to bring an attorney" but that it's not obligatory. It's not clear what will happen next, but practicing medicine in California can be a misdemeanour or a felony, and carries penalties of up to three years in jail and a $10,000 fine.
Additional Coverage:
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/5/19/18629771/biohacking-josiah-zayner-genetic-engineering-crispr
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613540/celebrity-biohacker-josiah-zayner-is-under-investigation-for-practicing-medicine-without-a/
(Score: 1, Troll) by khallow on Friday May 24 2019, @04:18AM (3 children)
Professional licensing is a commonly overlooked cause of inequality in the US (and probably elsewhere) due to its impact on mobility. If you live in a part of the US that is relatively poor off (or where you're heavily discriminated against), you can move to a part that is doing better. There's centuries of history of this happening with many famous US residents doing this.
Professional licensing gets in the way by being a barrier to entry for anyone outside of the region where the licensing holds. It can range from minimal, such as paying fees or minor registration work all the way up to years of additional education just to do a job that one can already do. But if you or a significant other risk losing a relatively good job by moving to an area where an onerous license needs to be obtained. This provides a powerful disincentive to move, if improved employment or circumstances is countered by losing a career to licensing requirements in a new state.
Here, I get why people could be concerned about medical ethics and such. I don't share those concerns because I think we're killing more people than we save with the current level of medical ethics. There has to be a balance between visible medical risk and the invisible opportunity costs of saving future lives. I think present day medical ethics and regulation has gone way over that border, particularly since it's created huge incentives for large scale medical fraud (not even doing its job in the first place).
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Friday May 24 2019, @02:27PM (2 children)
I am not sure I follow. Having too high an ethical standard creates incentive for medial fraud?
I suppose there is a lot of medial fraud going around...
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday May 24 2019, @06:07PM
Khallow is in favor of a libertariantard "free market" for backhoes and quack medicine. The irony is this:
khallow's opinion on ethics? That's almost as good as this bio-hacker having opinions on medicine! Ha! Good one, khallow! Oh, my, I can't stop Laughing! Ha! Ha ha!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday May 24 2019, @11:52PM
Well, I guess there's always some incentive no matter what the standards are. But it can greatly increase the incentives, for example, if the standards are so high, that they have to be ignored in order for the activity to happen.