this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2024
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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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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Haha that name is fantastic! It’s a riff on the best selling vinegar that you get at Costco and similar places called “Four Monks” vinegar.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Actually it's the name for a mix of vinegar, garlic, and herbs that was a home remedy to help prevent the plague.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Oh interesting, I guess I had the name attribution backwards!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_thieves_vinegar

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago

Hail Four Thieves Vinegar Collective!

More DIY, right to repair, open source living.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I believe every American knows someone whose life is made substantially worse because of a lack of access to healthcare.

I want to set this up and learn to use it. I want to keep it and maintain it and wait. Because I'll inevitably hear from someone that they can't afford their life-saving medication.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I know someone whose life is made substantially worse because they have a lack of access to healthcare. They live in Europe and can't get access to the specialized medicine that they need in the timeframe that they need it in. I'm not saying that socialized medicine is bad—I'm actually all for it—but it needs to be implemented well for it to actually work. This is just my anecdotal evidence to say that just because everyone has access doesn't automatically mean it's adequate access.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I can't really comment on the European experience though, so I said American, which I am, and which I am qualified to talk about.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I'm not European either. I'm also American. I wasn't contradicting anything you were saying; I agree with it. I was just trying to add to the discussion by suggesting that if we are going to get universal healthcare right in America, we have to consider a lot more than just free access.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago

Oh, also I have an exceedingly rare hereditary disease, so it feels like a certainty I'll need it for myself someday.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Yeah, no.

Your body isn't a simple laptop where you plug out some broken componi, replace that component, and you're done. There is a reason why even "simple" nurses go through years of training before being able to call themselves nurses.

If it comes to your body, shits complicated, yo!

Everyone should, must have the right to good quality healthcare, but it can't be from yourself, by yourself. You need a doctor!

Even those trans humanist types that put magnets and such in their bodies are really on the edge with what will and won't kill you. Add DIY CRISPR sets, which is just the worst thing I've ever heard, and you have arecipe for disaster.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I have to agree. They really think everyone out there knows enough chemistry and medicine to pull this off. Even meth heads blow their house up occasionally. There is so much that goes into building a safe chemistry lab and you shouldn't risk it. Hobby chemistry is one thing but you can't skip school and become a professional just by buying a kit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

There is a difference between knowing which medicines to give someone. And then having that knowledge of which to choose (after seeing a healthcare professional), and then being able to buy (make) any brand of that item.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There's a difference between injecting unknown crispr mutations and replicating known chemical compounds. I would guess the main danger here is the impurity

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I also don’t have faith that people would do it properly. Chemicals are weird and not following instructions or not knowing what you’re doing can lead to disaster.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I just hope that at the very least those that try for their own use wouldn't get penalized for it if they're desperate enough to try

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I mean, that’s fair. I would just hate to see people seriously hurt themselves because they don’t have access to something. But that brings up a whole new conversation, and it’s just sad that we even have to consider this.

Another aspect that came to mind is: people hurting themselves and ‘putting stress’ on the hospitals. Obviously that’s pretty unrealistic, might be a point someone would argue though.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Four Thieves are legit. Controversial but they're confronting a lot of uncomfortable truths that need to be addressed .

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

As is typical of Piracy.

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