explore -WSS

explore

author：comprehensive 2025-09-03 03:42:34 - browse：16

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reacts during a timeout in the game against the Golden State Warriors at American Airlines Center on March 22, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. – opinion coverage from STAT — Tim Heitman/Getty Images

Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner and “Shark Tank” star, has been making headlines recently with his direct-to-consumer venture, Cost Plus Drugs. The company sells generic prescription drugs and boasts more than 2 million members. As a family medicine specialist who has firsthand experience with American households’ dissatisfaction with the state of the nation’s prescription drug marketplace, I believe the enthusiasm for Cost Plus Drugs reveals an appetite for alternatives to the status quo in the pharmaceutical industry.

Cuban claims the reason behind the success of Cost Plus Drugs is the company’s decision to bypass pharmaceutical benefit managers — the negotiating agents insurance companies hire to negotiate big pharma’s prices down. But that might not be the case. Instead, its success appears to lie in its choice to collaborate with affordable generic drug manufacturers rather than the major pharmaceutical companies.

Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services found that between July 2021 and July 2022, major pharma companies raised the list price on more than 1,200 drugs by an average of 31 percent. That’s 23 percent more than the country’s overall inflation rate during the same period. Meanwhile, generic drug companies saved the U.S. roughly $2.6 trillion from 2012 to 2021, according to the Association for Accessible Medicines, a trade group representing generic drug manufacturers.

Unlock this article by subscribing to STAT+ and enjoy your first 30 days free!

GET STARTED Log In

Previous article： Wildfire smoke exposes gaps in outdoor worker protections
Next article： Nobel honors Karikó and Weissman's enduring partnership

WSS

Congress extends some pandemic preparedness programs

A single drug, study failures leave Anavex with nothing but cash

U.K. sequencing study surfaces new findings about tumor DNA

A single drug, study failures leave Anavex with nothing but cash

Some top drug companies are starting to take action on climate

The FDA must approve intranasal treatments for anaphylaxis

focus

explore

Wikipedia

Medical records are filled with copy

How a scoliosis diagnosis changed the life of one young dancer

How to save PrEP access — and even expand it

The FDA must approve intranasal treatments for anaphylaxis

Peter Hotez and the public health issue of online harassment

White House finalizes ITC's import ban of latest Apple Watches

Novavax promises a turnaround & Lilly roils the obesity market

6 solutions to address cancer drug shortages and others

Hepatitis C has a cure — but many Americans still lack access to it

Feng Zhang, Grail founder join forces on new gene editing startup

hotspot

AdventHealth escalates lawsuit against insurance vendor Multiplan

A single drug, study failures leave Anavex with nothing but cash

UCB departs biotech trade group BIO

WHO recommends second malaria vaccine

New weight loss drugs work. But how can they best be used?

White House finalizes ITC's import ban of latest Apple Watches

explore

explore

focus

Wikipedia