Dr. Laufer made headlines last year when he and the medical collective he belongs to, Four Thieves Vinegar, shared a free online guide for how to make a homemade version of the EpiPen for about $30.
Now, Dr. Laufer is developing a desktop lab and recipe book to allow patients to produce various medicines right in their own kitchens. He plans to publish instructions for the “Apothecary MicroLab” — a general purpose chemical reaction patients can build for about $100 — online. He will also offer free recipes for expensive, brand- name medicines such as Gilead Sciences’ hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi.
Many health professionals highlight the dangers of patients making their own drugs, but Dr. Laufer sees the DIY movement “as a moral crusade against the patent laws and market forces that let drug companies price vital remedies out of reach for many patients,” according to STAT.
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