Can't Afford Life-Saving Medicine? Just Make Your Own

[angelatc]

Anarchist is leading push to upend the pharmaceutical industry

The anarchist grew animated as he explained his plan to subvert a pillar of global capitalism by teaching the poor to make their own medicines — pharmaceutical industry patents be damned.

Then he took another sip from a flute of Taittinger Champagne.

Swaggering, charismatic, and complex, Michael Laufer has become a fixture in the growing biohacker movement ever since he published plans last year for a do-it-yourself EpiPencil — a $35 alternative to the pricey EpiPen.

It’s not clear whether anyone has actually ever used a homemade EpiPencil to prevent anaphylactic shock. But that seems almost an afterthought to Laufer’s bigger goal — trying to build a DIY movement to attack high pharma pricing and empower patients.

The de facto leader behind the leaderless collective Four Thieves Vinegar, Laufer is now on to his next project: He’s developing a desktop lab and a recipe book meant to equip patients to cook up a range of medicines, including a homemade version of the expensive hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, on their kitchen counters.

Health professionals have strenuously warned against DIY pharmaceuticals, but Laufer sees his work as a moral crusade against the patent laws and market forces that let drug companies price vital remedies out of reach for many patients.

“To deny someone access to a lifesaving medication is murder,” he said. And “an act of theft [of intellectual property] to prevent an act of murder is morally acceptable.”


The trade group PhRMA has so far ignored Laufer and declined to comment on his work. Regulators at the Food and Drug Administration haven’t bothered him, either. But in an era when a year’s worth of medicine can cost U.S. patients $750,000, Laufer believes his message is starting to resonate. And even some who call his approach irresponsible and dangerous acknowledge that it’s hard to dismiss Laufer outright.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” said Dr. Vinay Prasad, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University.

Prasad is no friend of the drug industry, but he considers it foolhardy for patients to try to make their own medicines. Still, he said the emergence of Laufer, or someone like him, was inevitable: “He’s another symptom of the disease, and the disease is drug pricing.”

More at link: https://www.statnews.com/2017/10/12/...r-drug-prices/

[Zippyjuan]

https://boingboing.net/2016/09/20/di...epipencil.html

DIY Epipen: the $30 Epipencil

People need to assemble the EpiPencil at home, and buy the auto-injector, syringes, needles, and epinephrine separately. Laufer’s site provides links to each of the components, except epinephrine, which requires a doctor’s prescription. People then load the syringe with the correct dose of epinephrine—it’s different for adults, children, and babies—and screw together the auto-injector.

A safety on Laufer’s recommended auto-injector, the AutoJect 2 ($27.99 at ADWDiabetes.com, $34.45 at Amazon) prevents accidental discharge of the epinephrine, while a screw-top cap protects the needle from contamination. A 1mL vial of epinephrine costs about $2.50, though a shortage of the hormone could lead to price increases, Leong says. Doses range from 0.01mL for babies, to 0.1mL for children, to 0.3mL for adults.

While Laufer estimates that people following his instructions would pay about $35 to fully assemble each EpiPencil, he acknowledges that prices of each component (not to mention shipping costs) are likely to fluctuate and differ between distributors.

The EpiPencil requires the user to measure the correct dose before administering it. An overdose can cause edema, heart palpitation, or possibly even death, says Dr. Schuman Tam, also a San Francisco-based allergist.

“If you don’t draw up the epinephrine carefully” into the syringe, “there will be a problem with contamination,” he says. Drs. Tam and Leong warned that the risks of an epinephrine overdose could be “catastrophic.”

[Working Poor]

Big pharma has nothing I need and I don't want anything they have. A real doctor would figure out a way to help a person not have fatal allergic reactions. I hope they price themselves right out of the market.

There are many alternatives out there with out trying to replicate big pharma. I guarantee that if you have a certain condition nature has an answer. You know of course that big pharma drug side effects are the 4th leading cause of death with medical error being the 3rd leading cause of death. I will just take my chances with nature.

[Zippyjuan]

Big pharma has nothing I need and I don't want anything they have. A real doctor would figure out a way to help a person not have fatal allergic reactions. I hope they price themselves right out of the market.

There are many alternatives out there with out trying to replicate big pharma. I guarantee that if you have a certain condition nature has an answer. You know of course that big pharma drug side effects are the 4th leading cause of death with medical error being the 3rd leading cause of death. I will just take my chances with nature.

Natural causes is the leading cause of death (92.5% of all deaths) - just so you know.

2.6 million deaths in the US last year. Most prescription drug deaths come from people abusing them- overdosing.

[Dr.3D]

Natural causes is the leading cause of death (92.5% of all deaths) - just so you know.

Of course it's natural to die when somebody poisons you.

[angelatc]

https://boingboing.net/2016/09/20/di...epipencil.html

Damn Zip - you think that most people (the local cranks excepted) don't understand that the dose makes the poison?

I am old enough to remember when the medical community insisted that making yeast infection medicines OTC would cause women to die.

[angelatc]

. I guarantee that if you have a certain condition nature has an answer. .

Uhm, nature *is* the condition. Science has some answers.

[navy-vet]

Folks are living longer than ever before, and on their own, verses a nursing home. And that can be linked directly to the advances in modern medicine.

[angelatc]

Folks are living longer than ever before, and on their own, verses a nursing home. And that can be linked directly to the advances in modern medicine.

I think the biggest detriment to medical advances will be the concern trolling of the medical industry. Computers in the home will be better suited at diagnosing illness than human MDs will. And I don't see why technology couldn't be applied to mix and dispense drugs.

[Working Poor]

Natural causes is the leading cause of death (92.5% of all deaths) - just so you know.

2.6 million deaths in the US last year. Most prescription drug deaths come from people abusing them- overdosing.

No zippy most prescription drug deaths are from taking them as directed it as directed from the $#@%ing side effects. Do you know how many drugs have death as a known side effect even when taken as directed? Opiod over doses doesn't even compare to the number of people who die from taking prescribed drugs as directed by their doctor.

[Weston White]

Natural causes is the leading cause of death (92.5% of all deaths) - just so you know.

2.6 million deaths in the US last year. Most prescription drug deaths come from people abusing them- overdosing.

440,000 (of 35-million) people die each year in the hospitals from mistakes that hospitals make to their patients. Maybe doctors, surgeons, and overpriced hospital stays are not the answer? It is the 3rd leading cause of death!

[timosman]

What a backlash against Zippy's propaganda. I think he might be in hot water.

[navy-vet]

I think the biggest detriment to medical advances will be the concern trolling of the medical industry. Computers in the home will be better suited at diagnosing illness than human MDs will. And I don't see why technology couldn't be applied to mix and dispense drugs.

I agree, and I see that technology as something akin to the home do it yourself industry we saw pop up and flourish a few years ago. It's a growing niche that's for sure. They even have ECG devices that are used with a smart phone. Won't be long before we have "holodocs" that will interpret diagnostic tests that we perform in our homes.

[The Northbreather]

There are old shamans.

There are bold shamans.

There are no old, bold shamans.


Dosage is everything.

[Zippyjuan]

No zippy most prescription drug deaths are from taking them as directed it as directed from the $#@%ing side effects. Do you know how many drugs have death as a known side effect even when taken as directed? Opiod over doses doesn't even compare to the number of people who die from taking prescribed drugs as directed by their doctor.

Do you have a link to data showing that?

http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfac...tatistics.html

Prescription drug abuse causes the largest percentage of deaths from drug overdosing. Of the 22,400 drug overdose deaths in the US in 2005, opioid painkillers were the most commonly found drug, accounting for 38.2% of these deaths.

[Working Poor]

Do you have a link to data showing that?

http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfac...tatistics.html

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/developmen.../ucm110632.htm

[The Gold Standard]

“To deny someone access to a lifesaving medication is murder,” he said. And “an act of theft [of intellectual property] to prevent an act of murder is morally acceptable.”

This guy isn't an anarchist. His first statement is false. His second considers the "theft" of intellectual property as theft, which it isn't.

[angelatc]

This guy isn't an anarchist. His first statement is false. His second considers the "theft" of intellectual property as theft, which it isn't.

He's actually a communist, as he is Antifa.

[Zippyjuan]

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/developmen.../ucm110632.htm

Link also presents another set of figures:

The Institute of Medicine reported in January of 2000 that from 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur annually from medical errors.1 Of this total, an estimated 7,000 deaths occur due to ADRs. To put this in perspective, consider that 6,000 Americans die each year from workplace injuries.