Bernie Sanders is angry.
The influential progressive senator from Vermont is exasperated that drug prices have remained high despite a consensus in Congress that something is urgently needed to change the situation.
Sanders, who has often targeted pharmaceutical companies for their pricing policy in the past, has just seized a golden opportunity to once again denounce the price of drugs whose bills are ruining many American households.
He posted on Twitter on Feb. 8 a message comparing the price of eight drugs in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The seven drugs chosen deal with asthma, diabetes, depression, nasal allergies and birth control.
These are Advair Diskus (asthma), Lantus Solostar (diabetes), Flovent (asthma), Nasonex (nasal allergies), Humalog (insulin), Nuvaring (birth control) and Abilify (psychosis, depression).
'You're Sick And Tired of Getting Ripped Off'
Listed prices show that on average the price of these drugs is often five times higher in the US compared to the UK. Advair Diskus costs for example $1,277 in the United States and only the equivalent of $217 in the United Kingdom. An asthmatic American using the treatment thus pays nearly six times more than an English patient. Lantus Solostar is worth $1,186 in the US and only the equivalent of $186 in the UK. The US price is more than six times what is offered in the UK.
The comparison with Canada also shows a huge difference between drug prices in the two neighbors. The price of Humalog is almost 25 times more expensive in the United States compared to Canada. The treatment costs $297 for an American patient and only $12 for a Canadian patient. The price of Abilify for depression is $5 in Canada and $35 U.S. dollars in the United States, which is 7 times more expensive.
This price disparity enrages Sanders who accompanies his post with this message:
"Here's something you won't hear about in the mainstream media: we are not that divided as a country," the lawmaker wrote on Feb. 8. "Whether you are progressive, conservative, or independent, you're sick and tired of getting ripped off and paying the highest prices on the planet for prescription drugs."
Five days after this angry message, billionaire Mark Cuban has just replied to him. His answer suggests that he shares Sanders' opinion, but he takes the opportunity to tell the powerful senator that he has co-founded, in 2022, a platform that now makes it possible to obtain drugs at low prices. This platform is the online pharmacy CostPlus Drug Company. It is the only one of his businesses that bears his name. The exact name is Mark Cuban CostPlus Drug Company.
The Dallas Mavericks owner points out to Sanders that his online pharmacy offers most of the drugs he has taken to extolling his anger at very low prices. Fluticasone-Salmeterol (Generic for Advair Diskus) is only priced at $60.50, according to the online pharmacy. The price of Mometasone Furoate (Generic for Nasonex) is $29.22 on CostPlus Drug Company, while the cost of Aripiprazole (Generic for Abilify) is only $6.
'You Just Have to Know Where to Look'
To sum up, Cuban's online pharmacy offers even lower prices for certain drugs than those found in the UK and Canada. On the other hand, there is no comparison with the prices charged by conventional pharmacies in the United States.
"So prices can be lower here in the USA. You just have to know where to look !" the billionaire said on Feb. 13.
Sanders had yet to respond as of this writing.
Congress has tried, unsuccessfully, to pen a law to bring down drug prices.
U.S. health care spending grew 2.7% in 2021, reaching $4.3 trillion or $12,914 per person, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). As a share of the nation's Gross Domestic Product, health spending amounted to 18.3%. Despite a recurring debate and a will, for several years, to limit the costs, health care expenses and drugs prices continue to soar.
For a little over a year, Cuban has embarked on the mission and ambition of lowering drug prices. CostPlus Drug Company "fills and delivers prescriptions at cost plus a fixed 15% margin," the company says on its website.
Cuban is able to provide these prices because there's no middleperson. CostPlus Drug Company bypasses health-insurers and negotiates directly with drug manufacturers.
"In 2020 alone, Medicare could have spent $3.6 billion less on generic acid-reflux, cancer and other drugs if purchased through Cost Plus Drug Company, a new online pharmacy backed by Mark Cuban," found a study from Harvard Medical School researchers.
The company's business model may also be beneficial for health insurers, including Medicare, which spent an estimated $115.6 billion on prescription drugs last year, or nearly a third of the total U.S. drug spending, the study added.
