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Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

beckershospitalreview.com

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Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#201

Post by coolso »

thematrixturtle wrote: post #46
indymike wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Except nobody should actually be paying $22.80 for generic Prozac. You can drive to any local Walmart and get it for $4 and they will bill your insurance, which will count toward your deductible. Except people can, and do, all the time. Source: they lady in front of me at the pharmacy counter today, who didn't want any "risky generics".

I also used to think only idiots rejected generics. Then the Ranbaxy scandal happened. https://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/the-scary-truth-behin...

I used to be okay with generics, until I realized that I wouldn't buy food that I knew was made in India or China. Imagine buying Cinnamon Toast Crunch if it were made in India.

So why would I eat a prescription / OTC drug that's made there?

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#203

Post by renewiltord »

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #119
renewiltord wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha no. I get them muled over from India with a prescription or I’d go get them myself. Only suckers and rich people pay American rates. I have so many antibiotics and controlled substances you’d be better off raiding me over your local Walgreens in a zombie apocalypse. Seriously, sometimes I read about people dying of lack of access to insulin and it blows my mind. It’s one payday loan spent on the round trip fligh…

https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/5-tips-travel... The government's attitude appears to be against muling medicines over (I realize that people still do it all the time). Self-prescribing antibiotics is not great for antibiotic resistance - Al Jazeera has done some great reporting on how Indian pharmacies loose prescription checks or doctors overambitious antibiotic prescriptions have caused a rise in an…

Hey, I’ve done what I could. You can listen to your FDA and go contribute to GoFundMes when people die of diabetes. That’s one way to live life. I choose another way, but I’m not demanding you join me. You can always enjoy the fish mox.

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#204

Post by s1artibartfast »

Scoundreller wrote: post #184
s1artibartfast wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It doesn't cut out any middlemen. I listed two, do you disagree that they are removed?

Is there a pharmacy that requires the use of an insurance company or a PBM? I thought involving them was always voluntary (and someones people would pay 100% of the “cash” price because it can be less than a copay).

Yes for PBM because that is where the pharmacy buys the drug, not the manufacturer. Manufacturers usually can't sell direct to pharmacies.

You can usually pay cash at a pharmacy, skipping insurance

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#205

Post by thematrixturtle »

coolso wrote: post #201
thematrixturtle wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also used to think only idiots rejected generics. Then the Ranbaxy scandal happened. https://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/the-scary-truth-behin...

I used to be okay with generics, until I realized that I wouldn't buy food that I knew was made in India or China. Imagine buying Cinnamon Toast Crunch if it were made in India. So why would I eat a prescription / OTC drug that's made there?

Bought any cheap pickles lately? (Plain old cucumber dill pickles, that is, not achar etc.) If yes, odds are fairly high they come from India.

https://www.india.com/business/india-becomes-pickle-king-of-...

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#206

Post by Dylan16807 »

refurb wrote: post #191
Dylan16807 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the doctor doing that for fun? If the doctor is getting any of the money, then that part is the kickback. If the doctor really gets nothing extra, and the hospital gets nothing extra, then that's not a kickback, it's just weird.

Huh? If a company gives you a $5 rebate for buying 5 bottles of shampoo, then it gets extra sales. So if a $5 grocery rebate a kick-back?

Increased sales, when paid by the same entity that gets the rebate, are not a kickback.

If a doctor took money to steer you to a specific hospital, that would be a kickback.

If a hospital gives you a rebate and you're paying, that's not a kickback. But if a hospital gives you a rebate and your insurance is paying based on the non-rebated price, that's probably a kickback.

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#207

Post by TrueGeek »

lmm wrote: post #147
TrueGeek wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These companies are not the same and are not offering drugs at cost. I searched for a drug that I’m paying a ton for (even with insurance). Honeybee doesn’t have it, Blink quoted me $1,200. With insurance it’s $600, GoodRx let’s me get it for $200.

At those prices I doubt that's a generic, which means Mark Cuban won't have it either.

Sadly, no, it is a generic.

https://imgur.com/a/JmRwtCT

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#208

Post by s1artibartfast »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #198
s1artibartfast wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that has any impact whatsoever. If people think they are buying a drug from a manufacturer they are wrong. Typically they are paying insurance who pays the pharmacy, who pays the PBM who pays the Manufacturer. This is true for generics and brand-name. Each step has price negotiations and a bunch of mixed incentives.

> I don't think that has any impact whatsoever. Then you've never bothered to compare the price of a branded drug with a generic in the same pharmacy.

I'm agree that the prices are different. Im Saying that the parties who negotiate the your ice are the same for generic and brand drugs

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#209

Post by Scoundreller »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #204
Scoundreller wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a pharmacy that requires the use of an insurance company or a PBM? I thought involving them was always voluntary (and someones people would pay 100% of the “cash” price because it can be less than a copay).

Yes for PBM because that is where the pharmacy buys the drug, not the manufacturer. Manufacturers usually can't sell direct to pharmacies. You can usually pay cash at a pharmacy, skipping insurance

The pharmacy will buy the drug from a distributor, not the PBM. The PBM manages the insurance.

These may all be standalone operations, or one corp with its hands in each pocket: PBM, pharmacy, insurer and distributor.

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#210

Post by dahdum »

lmm wrote: post #146
dahdum wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s why they formed as a public benefit corporation, it makes it more difficult to pivot towards pure profit seeking.

Does it? I remember when Etsy was making a big fuss about being a public benefit corporation and then a couple of years later they just quietly dropped it.

I’m not certain, but I believe Etsy was never actually a public benefit corp but instead a B Corp, which they dropped because they’d have to convert to a PBC to maintain it. Whereas it sounds like this project will start as a PBC.

If that’s incorrect hopefully someone can correct.

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