{"id":752,"date":"2023-02-17T10:36:39","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T10:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=752"},"modified":"2023-02-17T10:36:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T10:36:52","slug":"mark-cuban-has-been-taking-on-the-drug-industry-but-which-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=752","title":{"rendered":"Mark Cuban Has Been Taking On the Drug Industry. But Which One?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When billionaire Mark Cuban announced his attack on the pharmaceutical industry and its high-priced drugs in January 2021, it was met with cheers.<\/p>\n

His new company \u2014 the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co., known as Cost Plus Drugs \u2014 has the \u201clowest prices on meds anywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The serial entrepreneur<\/a> and owner of the NBA\u2019s Dallas Mavericks made the media rounds evangelizing, getting press via The Wall Street Journal<\/a>, Time<\/a>, \u201cThe Daily Show<\/a>,\u201d and many other outlets. He gave colorful quotes along the way, at one point declaring<\/a> his goal is to \u201cJust f\u2014 up the pharmaceutical industry so bad that they bleed.\u201d<\/p>\n

His new company, which currently offers over a thousand generic medications<\/a>, has social media influencers singing his praises: Reality star Kim Kardashian both tweeted <\/a>and Instagrammed<\/a> kudos. Former basketballer and Twitter personality Rex Chapman said Cuban was<\/a> \u201cchanging the game of prescription drug prices in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even a swinger\u2019s forum on Reddit<\/a> finds much to like about the company\u2019s low prices for Viagra and other meds.<\/p>\n

Yet beneath the hype lies a murky reality: In many cases, the price quotes that patients see on the website are higher than they\u2019d get at their local pharmacy. It has to do with the segment Cuban is playing in \u2014 generic drugs \u2014 but also the layers of complexity peculiar to the American health system.<\/p>\n

Right now, his company primarily sells generics, drugs that are no longer protected by patents that could ensure monopoly profits for big pharmaceutical companies. In most cases, it is the lowest-priced part of the pharma economy.<\/p>\n

To examine a substantial slice of Cuban\u2019s wares, KHN looked at all the medications and products offered on his site that start with the letter \u201cA,\u201d with each combination of strength, count, or quantity, and type of medication (e.g., capsule, tablet, or chewable gummies) available. It\u2019s a sizable sample: As of early February, it amounted to 211 combinations.<\/p>\n

KHN compared the prices for each variety of medication to the prices from other pharmacies for that same medication, as compiled by comparison-shopping discount site GoodRx. Focusing on the Washington, D.C., area, where KHN is based, the publication found lower prices in at least one pharmacy on GoodRx \u2014 which doesn\u2019t include Cuban\u2019s company in its comparisons \u2014 in 141 instances.<\/p>\n

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