Hijacking Pharma: Open Access Medicine For The Betterment Of All / Michael Laufer
Michael Laufer of the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective returns to the podcast to reiterate the aims of the group, and update us on the collective's recent and soon to be launched projects.
As a founding member of this project, Dr. Laufer's objective has been to communicate the philosophical and material objectives of the organization, which has been described as "an anarchist biohacking group." Since its founding in 2015, the collective has worked to provide the information needed to produce DIY pharmaceutical drugs safely and equitably, particularly for a population, like those that live within the borders of the United States, that do not have easy and affordable access to them. This is especially relevant when we discuss, in this interview, the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe and Casey, leaving a sizable portion of the US population without access to pregnancy terminating procedures and abortifacient drugs. Dr. Laufer and the collective's response to this has been to provide, in an open and accessible manner, information on how to potentially attain and prepare the materials needed to have a safe DIY abortion, regardless of what a wholly illegitimate political and legal system may prohibit or discourage. But, this is only one facet of the broader conversation Dr. Laufer and I have in this episode. The absolute inaccessibility of the healthcare system for most US Americans is a violation of one of the most fundamental indicators of a healthy, equal, and stable society, which is access to care. Four Thieves Vinegar Collective is a response to that, giving us an inspiring alternative to the for-profit healthcare system that is impoverishing us more and more every day.
BIO:
Dr. Michael Laufer is Chief Spokesperson and founding member of Four Thieves Vinegar Collective, a volunteer network of anarchists and hackers developing DIY medical technologies outside the dominant for-profit medical establishment.
Episode Notes:
Learn more about Four Thieves Vinegar Collective
Follow Dr. Laufer and Four Thieves on Twitter @MichaelSLaufer / @4ThievesVinegar
Learn more about the Open Insulin Foundation
The article referenced in this interview is Anarchist Collective Shares Instructions to Make DIY Abortion Pills published at Vice.
The song featured is “Deneb” by Nick Vander from the album Kodama (Nowaki’s Selection), used with permission by the artist.
