Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

An anarchist takes on Big Pharma by teaching patients to make their own meds

statnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 286 posts

Re: An anarchist takes on Big Pharma by teaching patients to make their own meds

#151

Post by okreallywtf »

computator wrote: post #147

Interesting assertion from the FAQ on Michael Laufer's website[1]: > Q: What about quality control? A: It’s important to know that making small quantities of a chemical is vastly different than making it on an industrial scale. The chemistry isn’t even the same. This is a big reason why chemical engineering is an entire field of study. With smaller reactions, while you do have to be more precise in your measurements…

I'm also curious about that, the only reason I can think would have to do with an incomplete reaction because of the size of the batch although that would mean the ability to mix a batch of X depended on the amount and I don't know why that would be.

Re: An anarchist takes on Big Pharma by teaching patients to make their own meds

#152

Post by ShabbosGoy »

randcraw wrote: post #126
ShabbosGoy wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recreational drugs are one thing, synthesizing compounds yourself is another. The risk profiles are completely different.

On what do you base this (remarkable) claim? Synthesizing drugs to act on the brain is at least as dangerous as those for kidneys, liver, etc. More than a few amateur drug designers have pickled their synapses into broccoli.

I meant it the other way around; an amateur synthesizing compounds themselves is probably more risky. Then again, it depends on the substance.

It's hard to mess up sodium oxybate, but it's way easier to mess up methamphetamine, for instance.

Re: An anarchist takes on Big Pharma by teaching patients to make their own meds

#153

Post by sitkack »

wccrawford wrote: post #11

>Then he took another sip from a flute of Taittinger Champagne. What? >Swaggering, charismatic, and complex, Gag me. >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. That couldn't possibly go wrong, eh? >It’s not clear whether anyone has actually ever used a homemade EpiPencil to prev…

I applaud the goal, but the article paints him as a showy douche who mimes his own existence. Why does everything have to get defconn'd

Re: An anarchist takes on Big Pharma by teaching patients to make their own meds

#154

Post by trapperkeeper74 »

Wow. Cool. I wonder how hard are the synthesises of the useful antidepressants like mirtazapine.

Also, I found ASX-05 (Phase III) uses a DM metabolite that is retained much more by the addition of brupropion. DM is the stuff in some cough syrups.

Re: An anarchist takes on Big Pharma by teaching patients to make their own meds

#155

Post by trapperkeeper74 »

Sangermaine wrote: post #61
dv_dt wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what the breakdown of working competitive markets look like, and in this case it takes both government monopolies, as well as well as overwhelming short-term greed on the part of the private companies. Long term don't these companies think that charging outrageous prices for drugs will cause a future voter/government backlash of some sort... or maybe they think they should extract profits now because of a cha…

>Long term don't these companies think that charging outrageous prices for drugs will cause a future voter/government backlash of some sort No, because it demonstrably won't. People say they're angry and then do nothing about it. The US has an entire political party angrily decrying any effort to regulate healthcare as socialist slavery. The drug companies know they'll be just fine. Maybe some token slaps on the wris…

Don’t get lost barking up the partisan tree, most Americans aren’t the enemy. Both parties are different flavors of corrupt (Gore Vidal’s Property party): one ignores their base while taking corporate money and the other panders to extremists and also takes the same blood money.

Re: An anarchist takes on Big Pharma by teaching patients to make their own meds

#156

Post by tormeh »

alexanderstears wrote: post #109
Sangermaine wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Long term don't these companies think that charging outrageous prices for drugs will cause a future voter/government backlash of some sort No, because it demonstrably won't. People say they're angry and then do nothing about it. The US has an entire political party angrily decrying any effort to regulate healthcare as socialist slavery. The drug companies know they'll be just fine. Maybe some token slaps on the wris…

the US has an entire political party angrily decrying any effort to regulate healthcare as socialist slavery. Argubly regulation is the problem we're in this mess. Do you think an epipen would cost $600 if there weren't a Government granted monopoly? We have two parties who love the current amount of regulations on competition - you need to go to an AMA approved medical school to become a doctor, there aren't H1Bs fo…

>Argubly regulation is the problem we're in this mess. Do you think an epipen would cost $600 if there weren't a Government granted monopoly?

All property is government intervention. And property is good. Because property is capitalism, and capitalism is God's will.

/s

Re: An anarchist takes on Big Pharma by teaching patients to make their own meds

#157

Post by mirimir »

Let's say that you need some pharmaceutical that's not available at a reasonable price. Perhaps because there's no generic available. Or because there are only licensed generics, priced just marginally less than the brand. And/or because you have crappy health insurance, or none at all.

Depending on the drug, the best option is either an equivalent from a compounding pharmacy, or one from a low-price country, such as India, Mexico, etc.

Making your own is only worth the hassle and risk if neither of those options is workable. The EpiPen is an unrepresentative example, because it's mostly about mechanics. With most drugs, you need to bulk out the active ingredient(s) to get a reasonably sized capsule or tablet. For capsules, with mannitol or whatever. For tablets, that plus binding agent(s).

The challenge is that thorough mixing is nontrivial.

Re: An anarchist takes on Big Pharma by teaching patients to make their own meds

#158

Post by CamperBob2 »

dannyw wrote: post #9
leggomylibro wrote: post #2

That seems both super dangerous, and super awesome. It's not something that we should have to consider. But this is the world we live in, now; legitimate supply lines of life-saving medicine have collapsed for a fair number of people. I understand why people might be troubled by someone actively going out and advocating this as opposed to simply making the information available, but if you're offered medicine with 95…

Agreed. When you actively advocate for this, do you face moral responsibility when someone prepares it wrong and dies? (I’m pretty sure the legal answer would be yes on so many fronts)

Agreed. When you actively advocate for this, do you face moral responsibility when someone prepares it wrong and dies?

That risk exists no matter what you "actively advocate" for. When you actively advocate for Obamacare, do you face moral responsibility for those who were forced to take a much lower-quality insurance policy because the premiums on their existing unsubsidized policy doubled?

Or, when you actively advocate for the repeal of Obamacare, do you face moral responsibility when a patient who can no longer afford insurance skips a critical doctor visit and dies as a result?

Because humans are not mindless programmable automatons, mere advocates should not be held responsible for other peoples' actions. Otherwise, we'll end up throwing lawyers in jail for successfully representing guilty defendants who go on to commit further crimes.

Re: An anarchist takes on Big Pharma by teaching patients to make their own meds

#160

Post by alexanderstears »

milcron wrote: post #143
alexanderstears wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the US has an entire political party angrily decrying any effort to regulate healthcare as socialist slavery. Argubly regulation is the problem we're in this mess. Do you think an epipen would cost $600 if there weren't a Government granted monopoly? We have two parties who love the current amount of regulations on competition - you need to go to an AMA approved medical school to become a doctor, there aren't H1Bs fo…

Party A: Create new regulations which benefit pharma Party B: Remove old regulations which disadvantage pharma

I love the reductionism.
Post reply on HN