You wouldn't pirate a medicine, would you?

  • becausechemistry@lemm.ee
    ·
    14 days ago

    I’m a process chemist. I do this sort of thing for a living.

    These guys don’t even know why what they’re suggesting is so dangerous. Do not do any of this.

    • EchoCranium@lemmy.zip
      ·
      14 days ago

      I'm a quality chemist. I test the API's that process chemists make to be sure they're right. Yeah, reactions don't always proceed as intended. These guys do understand the risks, and are only trying to provide an option. Here in the US the insurance companies are perfectly willing to let us die because funding expensive treatment hurts their bottom line. Unless you're independently wealthy, a small scale reactor at home may become the only option a person has available. Definitely risky, but why not take the chance when corporate America has determined you're not valuable enough to save?

      • becausechemistry@lemm.ee
        ·
        14 days ago

        I’m not disputing the reasoning behind why this is important. But “it is important” does not imply that their solution is the right one.

        • EchoCranium@lemmy.zip
          ·
          14 days ago

          There really should be better options, but it's where this country is currently at, where some home chemistry is something people would have to consider. You're right, it's dangerous and certainly has a lot of risks. With some background in it myself and access to resources that the general public doesn't have, I would still be hesitant to try something I'd cooked up in the basement at home. But, I'm also not at the point where I'm going to die from a treatable but unaffordable disease.

          • becausechemistry@lemm.ee
            ·
            14 days ago

            There is exactly one easiest option: be like the rest of the civilized world and ban consumer marketing of medicine. HUGE amounts of the prices of drugs are just down to TV ads. “Ask your doctor about…” is horse shit, let your doctor decide what prescription drugs you need. And fire the cocaine-riddled, law-breaking marketing departments that soak up so much money.

        • Venia Silente@lemm.ee
          ·
          14 days ago

          But the right solution is inconstitutional and anti-corporate! Even socialist and maybe even "woke"! So, this is the option TPTB are leaving us with.

          Don't like it? The second most useful thing to do compared to this is to ready your guillotine. That is the language they understand.

          • becausechemistry@lemm.ee
            ·
            14 days ago

            No, just follow the money. It’s all going into marketing. Ban marketing (like the rest of the world!) and prices drop overnight.

    • CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml
      ·
      14 days ago

      Yeah that was my first thought too. While I kind of get the spirit of it, in practice this is so absurdly dangerous IMO. Even if someone has the best possible intentions, there are so many things that could go wrong with this, especially if you include things like long-term effects that aren't immediately apparent, or interactions with other drugs, especially if you're taking other home-made pills with potentially unknown ingredients. While it can be frustrating to hear about a promising new medicine that won't be available for years, there's a reason why they spend so long testing these things.

      IMO the better (but much more difficult) solution is reforming the medical industry so that it's easier for people to see a doctor and actually afford to get medicine. I'm not usually a fan of big government stuff, but medicine is one of those things that just needs to be kept under supervision I think.

    • kirk781@discuss.tchncs.de
      hexagon
      ·
      14 days ago

      I think these guys might be able to hack through the process and get stuff done and think getting other people to follow them will be trivial as well. But just because they didn't mess up, doesn't mean other people won't. A large majority might end up hurting themselves if they follow in their route.

      • Kuori [she/her]
        ·
        14 days ago

        perhaps, but if the alternative is death via lack of care...

      • becausechemistry@lemm.ee
        ·
        14 days ago

        That’s the thing. They have no way of even knowing if they messed up! I’m not even sure the way they could be messing up is a thing they know they should be worried about.

    • potentiallynotfelix@lemdro.id
      ·
      14 days ago

      I'm a dumbass. I don't do this sort of thing for a living. Do you think it will ever be as safe as properly manufactured and prescribed drugs?