Four Thieves Vinegar Collective
{{Short description|Anarchist biohacking group}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Four Thieves Vinegar Collective
| pronounce =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| named_after = Four thieves vinegar
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| logo = Four Thieves Vinegar Collective logo.svg
| logo_size =
| logo_alt =
| logo_caption =
| map =
| map_size =
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| map2 =
| map2_size =
| map2_alt =
| map2_caption =
| abbreviation =
| predecessor =
| merged =
| successor =
| formation = {{start date and age|2015}}
| founder = Michael Laufer
| founding_location =
| extinction =
| merger =
| type =
| tax_id =
| registration_id =
| status = Active
| purpose = Biohacking
| headquarters =
| location =
| coords =
| region =
| services =
| products = EpiPencil, Apothecary MicroLab
| methods =
| fields =
| membership =
| membership_year =
| language =
| owner =
| sec_gen =
| leader_title =
| leader_name =
| leader_title2 =
| leader_name2 =
| leader_title3 =
| leader_name3 =
| leader_title4 =
| leader_name4 =
| board_of_directors =
| key_people =
| main_organ =
| parent_organization =
| subsidiaries =
| secessions =
| affiliations =
| budget =
| budget_year =
| revenue =
| revenue_year =
| disbursements =
| expenses =
| expenses_year =
| endowment =
| endowment_year =
| staff =
| staff_year =
| volunteers =
| volunteers_year =
| website = {{URL|https://fourthievesvinegar.org/}}
| remarks =
| formerly =
| footnotes =
}}
The Four Thieves Vinegar Collective is an anarchist biohacking group founded in 2015 by Michael Laufer. They have published instructions for the "EpiPencil", an epinephrine autoinjector, and the "Apothecary MicroLab", a do-it-yourself (DIY) device intended to make a variety of medications, most notably pyrimethamine (Daraprim). The medical community has criticized them for causing potential harm to patients with the DIY instructions, but Laufer claims to defend people's right to attempt their medical treatment.
Members
Views
Laufer has compared his work to that of Women on Waves, a group that provides abortion medication to women in areas where abortion is illegal.{{cite web |last1=Rosenblatt |first1=Seth |title=Hacker targets Big Pharma with homebrew meds |url=https://www.the-parallax.com/2016/07/25/hacker-targets-big-pharma-homebrew-meds/ |website=The Parallax |date=July 25, 2016 |accessdate=1 August 2018 |archive-date=August 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801190118/https://www.the-parallax.com/2016/07/25/hacker-targets-big-pharma-homebrew-meds/ |url-status=dead }} His motivation in founding the group is to provide medication to people when it is too expensive for them to afford, illegal to acquire, or unavailable due to it treating an orphan disease. He believes that providing lifesaving medication to those who need it justifies violating the intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical companies, and supports cognitive liberty.{{cite web |last1=Oberhaus |first1=Daniel |title=Meet the Anarchists Making Their Own Medicine |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-to-make-your-own-medicine-four-thieves-vinegar-collective/ |website=Vice |date=July 26, 2018 |access-date=July 31, 2018}}
History
Laufer, trained in mathematics, formed the group in 2008 during a graduate school trip to El Salvador. While visiting a local medical clinic he learned that despite the existence of many clandestine chemistry labs producing methamphetamine and MDMA, the clinic was out of oral contraceptives. He investigated the possibility of DIY pharmaceuticals which culminated in the founding of Four Thieves in 2015.{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Kristen V. |title=A DIY Pharmaceutical Revolution Is Coming—If It Doesn't Kill Us First |url=https://gizmodo.com/a-diy-pharmaceutical-revolution-is-coming-if-it-doesn-t-1796865404 |website=Gizmodo |date=August 2, 2017 |accessdate=31 July 2018}} He took the name from four thieves vinegar, a legendary plague cure.{{cite web |last1=Piller |first1=Charles |title=An Anarchist Is Teaching Patients to Make Their Own Medications |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-anarchist-is-teaching-patients-to-make-their-own-medications/ |website=Scientific American |date=October 13, 2017 |accessdate=31 July 2018}}
Four Thieves had formerly partnered with Chematica to develop recipes for the group's medication, but this ended and they lost access to information and software they had been given after pharmaceutical company Merck bought the startup.
=EpiPencil=
In 2016, after the price for an EpiPen was raised from $57 to $318 by its manufacturer Mylan, Four Thieves released instructions for how to build an "EpiPencil", a homemade epinephrine autoinjector that can be built for $30.{{cite web |last1=Condliffe |first1=Jamie |title=It Costs $30 to Make a DIY EpiPen, and Here's the Proof |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602422/it-costs-30-to-make-a-diy-epipen-and-heres-the-proof/ |website=MIT Technology Review |date=September 20, 2016 |accessdate=31 July 2018}} It is made from three off-the-shelf parts.{{cite web |last1=Laufer |first1=Mixæl |title=Introducing the EpiPencil |url=https://fourthievesvinegar.org/blog/2016/09/introducing-the-epipencil |website=Four Thieves Vinegar Collective |date=September 19, 2016 |archive-date=14 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814071248/https://fourthievesvinegar.org/blog/2016/09/introducing-the-epipencil |url-status=dead }} It has been criticized for potential danger, with Yvette d'Entremont criticizing the lack of sterility in the EpiPencil assembly. d'Entremont also highlighted the error of margin when drawing up the epinephrine could easily be misjudged, putting people's lives at risk.{{cite web |last1=Weill |first1=Kelly |title=Please Do Not Hack Your Own EpiPen |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/please-do-not-hack-your-own-epipen |website=The Daily Beast |date=April 13, 2017 |orig-year=September 22, 2016 |accessdate=31 July 2018}} Theresa Eisenman, a spokeswoman for the United States Food and Drug Administration, stated that using such a device is a "potentially dangerous practice".{{cite web |last1=Leonard |first1=Kimberly |title=EpiPen Alternative? Meet the $30, DIY EpiPencil |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-09-23/epipen-alternative-meet-the-30-diy-epipencil |website=U.S. News & World Report |date=September 23, 2016 |accessdate=1 August 2018}} The device is not known to have actually been used.
=Apothecary MicroLab=
Four Thieves has released instructions for building an "Apothecary MicroLab", a DIY controlled lab reactor claimed to be able to synthesize a variety of medications. The group released instructions for manufacturing pyrimethamine (Daraprim) from acetonitrile, ethyl bromide, and dicyandiamide with it. Laufer claims that it can also be used to make naloxone, cabotegravir, mifepristone, and misoprostol. Jeremiah Johnson, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has stated that using it would be very dangerous as it could create the wrong drug or the wrong dose. Eric von Hippel, an economist at MIT who supports DIY medication, has stated that the design could create chemical byproducts as well as or instead of the intended medication.
Laufer claims that they have successfully synthesized cabotegravir, an experimental new integrase inhibitor, and asked heroin dealers to cut their product with it in order to help lower the rates of HIV infection among heroin users.
=Abortion=
In 2022, Four Thieves released detailed instructions for how to make an abortion pill,{{Cite web |last=Koebler |first=Jason |date=2022-05-03 |title=Anarchist Collective Shares Instructions to Make DIY Abortion Pills |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjby4b/anarchist-collective-shares-instructions-to-make-diy-abortion-pills |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=Vice |language=en}} and subsequently distributed business cards at a hacker convention in Queens, New York, that were labeled "This Card is an Abortion" and had three doses of misoprostol embedded in them.{{cite web |first=Lorenzo |last=Franceschi-Bicchierai |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvmn35/diy-collective-embeds-abortion-pill-onto-business-cards-distributes-them-at-hacker-conference |title=DIY Collective Embeds Abortion Pill Onto Business Cards, Distributes Them At Hacker Conference |website=Vice |date=2022-07-22 |access-date=2022-07-28 }}
Reception
Jose Gomez-Marquez, who is researching pharmaceuticals at MIT, has stated his belief that the group is more about publicity than medication, and is concerned about the danger of unvetted information being published. Vinay Prasad, a professor of medicine at Oregon Health & Science University, believes that DIY medication is "foolhardy".
Jo Zayner, another biohacker, believes that the group's work is more symbolic than anything else.
Chemist Derek Lowe described the Vice magazine article on the collective as "largely bullshit".{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/anarchist-drugs-all-yeahboy|title=Anarchist Drugs For All. Yeahboy.|publisher=Science|last=Lowe|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Lowe (chemist)|date=30 July 2018|access-date=1 December 2018}} He noted that they had synthesized known substances rather than producing new ones. He also pointed out that their proposal to combat Hepatitis C could accidentally cause treatment-resistant strains of Hepatitis C. In September 2024 Derek Lowe replied to further publicity for the group, pointing out that they don't address the fact that Sofosbuvir is given as part of a combination therapy or how they calculated the figure of $70 for a whole course of treatment.{{Cite web |url=https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/anarchist-drugs-again |title=Anarchist Drugs Again |date=2024-09-09 |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=Science |last=Lowe |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Lowe (chemist)}} He also pointed out that the group doesn't address waste disposal, purification, solvents or availability of starting materials.
Legal status
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|https://fourthievesvinegar.org}}