Don't 'Jailbreak' Your Meds to Make Your Own, Docs Warn

High prescription drug prices, long waits at doctor's offices, and other logjams that cause challenges for people with medical issues have led to a concerning phenomenon among that group: DIY medicine, reports NPR. What that means is that patients are cobbling together their own weight loss meds, wound ointments, and even abortion pills, among other treatments, to circumvent the cost and trouble, and even gathering in online communities to share their tips on doing so. Experts are troubled by these "hacks," as Axios puts it. "I don't think I can overemphasize the fact that this is scary stuff, and that patients should consult their physicians," Bruce Scott, head of the American Medical Association, tells the outlet.

404 Media also reports on his "right to repair for your body," a slogan promoted by one company that teaches people how to make their own pharmaceuticals on the cheap. For example, "courses of the abortion drug misoprostol ... can be manufactured for 89 cents (normal cost: $160)," the outlet notes. People are also adopting the do-it-yourself attitude when it comes to medical testing, after doctors have either dismissed their ailments or perhaps can't find what's wrong, reports the Washington Post.

But similar to creating your own medical concoction, taking tests at home without a doctor's supervision can become "a dangerous Wild West of medical information," the paper notes. "Home-testing companies and influencers are creating a market preying on people's very normal concerns about their health," one Pennsylvania gynecologist says. Dr. Michael Snyder of Denver's Rose Medical Center tells Axios that patients just want to save money "without all the medical shenanigans," but he warns of the dangers of putting the wrong med in your body or doing so in a nonsterile way. "If you're going to jailbreak any of this stuff, I really would talk to your doctor about it," he says. (More medicine stories.)