“Patients are increasingly joining online communities to learn how to make pirated versions of abortion pills, GLP-1s and other prescription drugs and medical treatments,” Tina Read writes over at Axios. “Why it matters: It’s an outgrowth of frustration with high prices and bottlenecks in the health system, combined with a broader medical freedom movement built around patient empowerment and fueled by social media. The big picture: Patients already are self-managing more of their care through wearable monitors, telehealth and direct-to-consumer offerings like at-home testing.
- “But a subset fed up with long wait times or a lack of answers from doctors is embracing do-it-yourself cures, digging into clinical trials, following the scientific method, and, in some cases, coming up with hacks to treat their conditions, such as brain stimulation and even an open-source artificial pancreas, NPR reported.
- T”hey are also often organizing into online communities and sharing what they find, including how to make pharmaceuticals, including the abortion drug misoprostol or a copy of costly hepatitis C drugs, 404 Media reported recently
“Driving the news: One of the latest manifestations, seen on Reddit boards and elsewhere, promotes breaking open auto-injector pens for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, with users offering detailed instructions for how to stretch doses.” Tina Read, “DIY medicine draws frustrated patients to online forums,” Axios.
