this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2024
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‘Right to Repair for Your Body’: The Rise of DIY, Pirated Medicine (www.404media.co)
submitted 2 months ago by ArchRecord@lemm.ee to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Sharing because I found this very interesting.

The Four Thieves Vinegar Collective has a DIY design for a home lab you can set up to reproduce expensive medication for dirt cheap, producing medication like that used to cure Hepatitis C, along with software they developed that can be used to create chemical compounds out of common household materials.

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[–] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

While this is definitely an interesting proposition, for most people in the US wouldn’t something like Mark Cuban’s CostPlus drugs website be a more reasonable solution?

[–] ArchRecord@lemm.ee 26 points 2 months ago

They could do that, but the drugs are still much too expensive comparatively, and it doesn't include many drugs, especially the ones that are the most absurdly priced.

For instance, after looking through various articles on him and scraping together some of the data, out of the medications referenced as being some that he's made:

Misoprostol (Abortion Medication) - $14.90 on CPG - $0.89 via MicroLab

Sovaldi (Cures Hepatitis C) - Not available on CPG (normally $84,000) - $70 via MicroLab

Kalydeco (Treats Cystic Fibrosis) - Not available on CPG (Normally ~$500/day) - $10/day via MicroLab

Daraprim (Treats Parasitic Diseases & Some AIDS Patients) - $2443/30 pills on CPG - $80/30 Pills via MicroLab

Epinephrine (Treats Allergic Reactions, AKA epipen) - Not available on CPG (Normally $650-$750) - Initially $30 via MicroLab ($3/reload after)

The pharmaceutical industry is so screwed up, and these prices only show it more clearly.

[–] Jimmycakes@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

They don't have everything and especially rare mega expensive stuff that's not widely generic options