The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company (MCCPDC) is a registered pharmaceutical wholesaler and purchases drugs directly from manufacturers, bypassing middlemen to lower the price of more than 100 medications, it said in a statement.
For example, the leukemia drug imatinib is priced at $47 a month on MCCPDC compared to the $9,657 retail price.
MCCPDC CEO Alex Oshmyansky reached out to Cuban with an idea for a low-cost generic drug company in a cold email. It was launched in January last year. They were motivated in part by “Pharma Bro” Martin Shrkeli’s outrage-producing price hike of the lifesaving drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per tablet while Shrkeli was CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Cuban told Forbes last year the pricing for generic drugs was “ridiculous.” He said he decided to put his name on the company to “show capitalism can be compassionate and to send the message I am all in.” It’s not clear how much he had invested in the company.
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Reblog to save someone an entire paycheck, or more, on the pharmaceuticals they need.
Gods, I want this to be true so badly.
It is true. Mark Cuban is doing this in part because he wants to run for President in 2024 if Biden doesn’t run again (Mark ran in 2020). He’s a Democrat and “I personally made medication affordable” will give him an immense edge. He’s far from perfect but this is a good thing he’s doing. Also he seems to genuinely believe this stuff, but either way, site’s up and operational and you can start any time.
just so people understand what a big deal this is, i ran some fast price comparisons. goodrx is an app that offers discounts on medications for which you have to pay out of pocket, whether because your insurance doesn’t cover them or because you don’t have insurance. if you don’t have insurance, goodrx is often about as good as it gets, so i’m using their prices for my comparison.
please note that prices are location dependent on goodrx—it shows you the options at pharmacies near your location. i’m in pittsburgh, pa; if you’re in a different part of the country and you try this, you may get slightly (or wildly) different numbers.
fluoxetine is generic prozac. thirty 20mg capsules costs $12.80 at my cheapest local pharmacy. costplus has it for $3.90.
atorvastatin is generic lipitor. thirty 40mg tablets is $10.95 at my cheapest local pharmacy. costplus has it for $4.20.
omeprazole is generic prilosec. thirty 20mg capsules is $13.90 at the cheapest local pharmacy; $4.20 at costplus.
aripiprazole is generic abilify. thirty 10mg tablets is $17.73 at the cheapest local pharmacy (and $260.60 at the most expensive—and that’s with a discount, still, yikes); $6.00 at costplus.
lamotrigine xr is generic lamictal xr. thirty 25mg tablets is $36.59 at the cheapest local pharmacy; $8.40 at costplus.
maybe that doesn’t seem like a huge discount, but the goodrx prices change *all the time*—last time i used it to buy fluoxetine, which was in the last couple of years, it was $31. also, many people are on multiple medications, or have multiple people in a household taking multiple medications, and $5 off every prescription adds up real fast.
this is an objectively fantastic thing and a huge deal, and i hope they’re wildly successful.
HE HAS MY PRESCRIPTION ON HERE FOR $4.20.
THE CHEAPEST I CAN GET IT IN PERSON ANYWHERE IS $13 AND THE STANDARD PRICE FOR THE GENERIC IS $82.
TAMIFLU IS ON HERE FOR UNDER $4. IT’S AN ANTIVIRAL USED TO TREAT SEVERE CASES OF INFLUENZA AND REGULARLY COSTS OVER $100.
There is a medicine on here called Valcyte, it’s an HIV medication, he’s offering it for $100.20 which sounds outrageous (and I mean still kind of is but wait for it, wait for it) UNTIL YOU REALIZE ON GOODRX IT’S LISTED FOR $179 AS THE ABSOLUTE CHEAPEST PRICE I CAN FIND AND MY LOCAL WALGREENS SELLS IT FOR $1,009 FOR A MONTH’S SUPPLY.
This man is literally going to save lives. Jesus christ. I could cry.
Also - a lot of these medications are stuff that people have to take long-term. So for many people, this will save them hundreds or thousands of dollars a year … for the next several years to the rest of their lives. Obviously this is good for people that need meds in the short term, but this is a lifesaver for people that are going to be on medication for years.
Trump would slay Cuban. Cuban’s just another Marxist Democrat 🖕🏼
11/3 Book Deals
Good morning, all, I hope the new month is treating you well! It has certainly gotten a bit chilly where I am, although it warms up every couple days again, so who knows what will win out in the end, haha. How are you all doing?? I hope things are going well for all of you. :)
I have a shorter list today because I’m short on time and the selection was a bit limited, but I wanted to pop on anyway and share some of the awesome books I saw on sale today! There were a couple of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books on sale, so you can stock up on some of those if you’ve been wanting to read them/want another reading copy. I’ve been really wanting to check out Bridget Collins’ latest, The Betrayals, and Michel Faber is always a treat!
Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day, and happy reading! :)
Today’s Deals:
- The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker - https://amzn.to/3pXRs0i
- Mort by Terry Pratchett - https://amzn.to/3GLslDO
- Hogfather by Terry Pratchett - https://amzn.to/3nSNYto
- Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett - https://amzn.to/3mI68Pc
- Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett - https://amzn.to/2ZTv4dO
- The Forgotten Sister by Nicola Cornick - https://amzn.to/31hL3Tc
- Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas - https://amzn.to/3obQ1Jh
- Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik - https://amzn.to/3bAXYBN
- My Invented Country by Isabel Allende - https://amzn.to/3bDPvxE
- The Betrayals by Bridget Collins - https://amzn.to/3EG1R4L
- Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen - https://amzn.to/3mBPd0t
- Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam - https://amzn.to/3pXS5Hc
- D (A Tale of Two Worlds) by Michel Faber - https://amzn.to/3k0jswg
- Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian - https://amzn.to/3BJccuK
- Birdie by Tracey Lindberg - https://amzn.to/3wba26f
- Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak - https://amzn.to/3k3gyXQ
- Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo - https://amzn.to/3k22Wfu
NOTE: I am categorizing these book deals posts under the tag #bookdeals, so if you don’t want to see them then just block that tag and you should be good. I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small (but very much needed!) commission on any purchase made through these links.
