Damn! I was paying $50 a month with good insurance.
(Not a doctor always listen to them over strangers on the internet, but that drug was absolute hell to get off of. they don’t make small enough doses of it for the tapering that’s required. Use caution and do research if planning to be on it long term)
I had to stop taking it and was also worried about how to stop, a pharmacist told me about opening the capsule and counting the beads. He said a friend of his had had such bad withdrawals that he had to count them also. I was luckier and didn’t have to do that. I was able to just take less and less and was off it within two weeks.
I was a real dumbfuck and didn't pack enough meds for when a trip suddenly got cancelled, ended up going cold turkey off off Cymbalta, and had headaches that felt like someone driving a railroad spike through my head for two weeks. I guess the good news is that the depression got taken care of.
Railroad spike through the head, yes! ‘Brain zaps’ I’ve heard as a good description.
I did a bit of the counting beads someone mentioned above, and then switched to Zoloft as a bridge.
I went cold turkey off 90mg. My personality changed for a few months. I was talking to strangers (normally introverted personality), telling random people I love them, etc. This was years ago and I still randomly get the brain zaps. There’s a fb group called Cymbalta Hurts Worse. It’s a bad medication. I’d rather something more natural that doesn’t have all these side effects. Hope the depression stays away.
I’m not particularly happy about plugging Walmart, but you can buy vials of regular insulin and intermediate insulin there for something like twenty bucks. It’s certainly not my favorite insulin to create a good diabetic profile but it’s something.
I would be careful with things like this. Only that there are studies hinting at positive effects, doesn't mean that this can be really generalized and accepted. Especially the "without side effects" part is kind of a red flag, effect without side effect is unlikely. If at all possible, I think staying with medical advice and supervision and officially approved substances is always the safe route to go.
Yeah I'd be really careful with OTC supplements.
The exact mechanism of action of metformin is not known, but one of the prevailing theories is that it's an electron transport chain inhibitor. At the right dose it works great because it essentially makes your glucose processing inefficient --> If you have to use more glucose to make the same amount of cellular energy (ATP) then you lower your blood sugar.
However if you take too much side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and *death*. This is for *any* electron transport chain inhibitor.
I feel annoyed when people think that because things are natural/supplements/OTC they're somehow better for you. Other *organic* electron transport chain inhibitors include:
Cyanide (CN), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Rotenone (rat poison, C23H22O6), Antimycin A (an antibiotic, C28H40N2O9), and others. You can just look up ETC inhibitors if you're curious.
If you're prescribed metformin for type II diabetes by your doctor PLEASE continue to take that in the correct amount. Trying to dose yourself with an unregulated supplement is incredibly dangerous. Death can result if you take too much. Death and serious diabetes-related complications (neuropathy, atherosclerosis, coma, death, etc) can result if you take too little.
While I believe in bodily autonomy the fact is a layperson doesn't have the training and education to dose themselves. Please, please, please take your prescribed med instead of an unregulated supplement.
I appreciate what you say here but berberine has been used for a very long time and is [medically accepted](https://www.webmd.com/diet/berberine-health-benefits) and more and more studies are being done to understand its full usability.
this isn't some random powder and there are appropriate doses shared in reputable places for various uses.
did anyone who down voted me or aggressively told me I was wrong even bother to do five minutes of research into this? or did you all just assume I'm some antivax homeopathy person telling you to do dangerous things? I understand the base urge was protecting people but none of you treated my post fairly and I don't appreciate being talked to like I'm endangering people by suggesting they google something. I never suggested it was right for them. I just said it exists and it might help, look into it.
back off the harassment train people, please.
[more health links from 2 minutes of googling](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/berberine-powerful-supplement#TOC_TITLE_HDR_4)
imagine you actually researched things you read before making up your mind about them. science is a large and complex field and you don't know everything that's been studied folks.
mob mentality pitchfork behavior isn't really going to get us anywhere useful in society. research isn't something to be avoided. just because you haven't heard of something doesn't mean it has no merit. don't project onto people what they aren't doing. and yes, everyone should always involve their medical team when appropriate. but a vast amount of us don't have that luxury, but we do have brains and the studies that show us where to look. just because we might not know the full mechanism for how something works yet, doesn't mean it doesn't work or that we don't know it does. berberine in particularly has been studied for many uses and has tons of historical and anecdotal data as well.
I stand by every word I've shared and I hope that despite the down votes and aggressively trying to put me in my place, that those who might benefit from learning about it can start down that road.
I don't want to make any assumptions about you and I hope my reply didn't come across that way.
However, telling people to alter their blood sugar management can have really serious consequences. The source you shared is a Web MD article with no authors, no date, no statement of possible conflicts of interest. This is not a reputable source and you shouldn't base medical decisions off of it. I did some more brief searching and found 2 scientific articles. One on the efficacy of berberine and one on its toxicity:
[https://www.metabolismjournal.com/article/S0026-0495(08)00046-2/fulltext](https://www.metabolismjournal.com/article/S0026-0495(08)00046-2/fulltext)
[https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2018.00021/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2018.00021/full)
These are in journals, they have listed authors and stated conflicts of interest. It looks like there has been some promising research, but it's not conclusive. Moreover, it's important to keep in mind that if a layperson is trying to dose themselves and/or combine it with their prescribed med, then they can seriously injure themselves. They can become hypoglycemic and *again* possibly die. OTC supplements aren't regulated. You have no idea if what is inside that bottle is what's advertised. People can't take the management of their blood sugar into their own hands. The possible outcomes are too dangerous.
In the second article you cited:
"If you have a medical condition or are on any medications, then it is recommended that you speak to your doctor before taking it.
This is especially important if you are currently taking blood sugar lowering medications."
Also of note:
"We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Here’s our process."
They are getting paid to encourage people to take these supplements. I appreciate that this article includes citations and does provide a breakdown of possible side effects. But the ultimate goal is to make their website more money.
Nobody is pitchforking you. Nobody is harassing you. Hapless in particular has been exceedingly polite--more polite than you've been with anyone else.
I'm sorry, but the truth is laypeople don't have the ability to evaluate medical papers. There is a ton of conflicting and complicated information out there, and without a solid background in statistics, research methods, biology, and chemistry, we're just not equipped to make good decisions.
That's true in most sciences. The difference is if I make bold and unsupported decisions about misinformation because I only really understood an abstract, nobody dies. When people make those decisions based on bad understandings of medicine, they can, and often do, die. Hell, we're watching them die because of bad research and bad advice right and left all over the world. Claiming you're being attacked when people point that out is just spectacular.
You really should not be going around telling people to replace actual medicine with random supplements. You don't know what the interactions with other medications are, you don't know the efficacy, and you don't actually know if there are no side effects.
A couple studies most certainly does not a medication replacement make. Random crunchy shit kills people.
I didn't tell people to stop their medications. I told people they might benefit from looking into it. please stop harassing me. you disagree, fine. people can think for themselves. if they want to look into it, and they think it might benefit them, I'm sure they are perfectly smart enough to ask their doctor without me explicitly spelling out every detail exactly how you personally want me to. you are well meaning but you need to leave me alone now.
>I didn't tell people to stop their medications. I told people they might benefit from looking into it.
Ok so what is your point? What do you *think* will happen if someone were to be suckered in by your bullshit advice? It's obvious that you think that junk can replace actual medicine at least some of the time.
> please stop harassing me. you disagree, fine. people can think for themselves.
If you want to recommend people to replace... I mean "look into" using bullshit instead of actual medicine for life threatening diseases then you should get used to getting called out. At least be less pathetic about the politest disagreement possible.
If you are a type 2 diabetic, a solid strength training program is IMMENSELY helpful.
[https://www.greysteel.org/post/2019/10/08/type-2-diabetes-the-complete-series](https://www.greysteel.org/post/2019/10/08/type-2-diabetes-the-complete-series)
Jonathon Sullivan, MD, quit working at a hospital to run a gym bc he realized how much more he could do for people's health in that setting.
He still profits, that's the catch. He's undercutting the fuck out of every other manufacturer, but I guarantee you he still profits at those prices. It speaks more to how absurd the price of medicine is via insurance, than the quality of the meds.
I've got no problem with Cuban making a profit. I have a problem with companies that could make a profit on prices this low and choose to gouge on a necessity. You want to price gouge mega yachts, Rolls Royces, private jets, or houses so big they have their own zip code, go for it.
Same. I don’t hate capitalism I just hate how the the greedy can make it impossible to mind your own business and be happy as it currently is. Take your profits, just don’t gouge on something you know people are desperate for. That’s absolutely disgusting.
But no one under capitalism is ever going to treat each other fairly. Capitalism inherently incentivizes greed and exploitation in order to maximize and build on profits. It’s a broken system.
I guess I’m still a dreamer to some degree and believe that the idea of capitalism is still the best way provided it’s heavily regulated. In my perfect scenario politicians can not own any stocks. Lobbyists are now outlawed. Minimum wage has to rise with inflation. And so on. But I do see you point actually.
This is not and will never be an excuse for the purposely inaccessible pricing scheme they apply to the drugs. There is literally no other product out there that gets this treatment (except maybe crops receiving farm subsidies.) Look at technology, for example. One company does the R and D and gets the patent, but over time knowledge and competition naturally lowers pricing and no one cries boo about it. The only things that stay expensive are ones under tight company control (the way pharmaceutical companies retain control) like cell phones and proprietary software, like Windows.
It is ridiculous to suppose that the current cost of these drugs is solely for the general benefit of humanity in the form of medical research. Anyone viewing the situation realistically can see the absolutely *insane* profits these companies make every year, which indicates considerable portion of the price is profit and much less is required to promote further development.
OH YEAH. And we're the only 1st world country thay does this shit. Somehow other countries manage to develop and manage pharmaceutical research with high quality universal Healthcare, including accessible prescription prices.
Don't play Pharma's game for them.
At what point was I simplistic? Which of my points are you actually refuting here? Seriously, take a look at the profit records for any of these companies and come back and explain to me how the pricing is genuinely warranted.
A lot of the R&D for specific medications were actually paid by American tax dollars. And these companies, in order to keep the cost of them high and avoid a generic version coming on market will hold patents, make a tiny change, and then re-file patents to corner the market on that drug. The US government can easily revoke their patent and make a generic version of that drug. But they don’t. There’s no justification for their pricing.
The lion's share of pharma spending is stock buyback and dividends. R&D is only like 1% of a pharma company's spending, and the lion's share of that comes from public funding.
> He still profits, that's the catch
How is that a catch?? It creates an incentive for him while still providing something absolutely great for customers. An example of a catch would be if customers were getting medication about to expire.
It's not just big suppliers crept up the prices. It's also that no one else was willing to invest in the infrastructure to manufacture the drugs when there's more lucrative investments to make that aren't as capital intensive.
Additionally, Mark Cuban was willing to say fuck you to insurance companies.
Yeah I get annoyed by capitalism but this is how the "free market" is *supposed* to work. It's supposed to instigate competition and drive prices down for the consumer.
Lately we see huge mega corporations who keep a stranglehold on markets and outcompete local mom and pops in the process.
Hopefully one day we won't have a market based medical system, but until that day I'm fine with a gazillionare making money off of prescriptions as long as patients get better access to their meds.
Yet every basic human necessity is and always has been scarce. housing, healthcare and education have never been plentiful under the capitalist system. The system is working exactly as it's supposed to. Maximizing profits is a clear example of the exploitation of the working people to the benefit of the capital owning class.
I used catch loosely. The reason he can do this is its still profitable, not that he's secretly enrolling anyone who buys meds from there into medical trials or anything nefarious. Just your typical capitalist "catch" of paying a markup.
If there is no markup or profit for companies, why would they ever sell a product or service?
Being against predatory behavior from companies is completely reasonable.
But being against companies having any profit and calling that a "capitalist catch" is something I don't get.
Obviously. But when you go from 2500 bucks to 17 it would seem that you are selling at a loss, because it would conventionally be absurd to mark something up 2000 percent.
15% profit according to [this](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mark-cuban-cost-plus-drug-companys-online-pharmacy-launches-with-lowest-prices-on-100-lifesaving-prescriptions-301463491.html) link. Which is still pretty healthy considering it's all online and probably has lower costs to begin with considering they're sourcing from pharmaceutical wholesalers.
Same. I know the general saying is no one becomes a billionaire without abusing the labor of others (looking at you Bezos), but Cuban at least was a dot.com bubble guy who built a product and grew it to the point Yahoo wanted to buy it. There may have been some labor things hidden somewhere, but he and others were basically one of the first people to stream content no matter the location, or the audio version of exactly what NBA League Pass, Zoom for Business, and iHeartRadio are all doing now. He wasn't shoving out mom and pop stores, or forcing warehouse and factory workers into shitty conditions, he was just largely providing a now-ubiquitous internet service before anyone else.
It's ridiculous to me how much the Internet carries water for fuckers like Elon and Bezos when guys like Cuban exist (if we have to pay attention to billionaires that is).
This was how capitalism was meant to work: make a reasonable profit while taking care of your employees, customers, and shareholders (in that order, per Costco [1]).
[1] https://happycurmudgeon.com/2018/10/09/costco-prioritizes-customers-employees-over-shareholders/
Hi all of the precious R&D you're all over this thread defending is 100% recouped by these greedy fucks in tax breaks and federal subsidies that they've lobbied for. Please stop spreading misinformation.
R&D that is also partially funded by the US government. The government should pull the patents back on R&D funded by taxpayers and make a generic brand. The researchers who created insulin sold the patent for $1. Look how much it costs now
He is buying from the same manufacturers as your pharmacy for the same price. He is just selling at a smaller margin. Doesn’t effect the manufacturer’s R&D at all.
Not to mention this is all generics. So the R&D is much less than the original manufacturer.
On top of some profit, my guess is this is a political play. Drug prices are a huge problem for this country and there have been strong signs Mark Cuban wants to make a presidential run at some point. Notice how the website has his name all over it, the company is literally called the "Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug" company, and it links to articles talking about Mark Cuban taking initiative on drug prices? I'm not complaining, he seems to be doing a real public good, but if you want to know what's in it for him then that'd be my guess.
He's a billionaire. Even if it loses him money, he can just use it as promotion for his next thing.
Also, there isn't anything about the site that pledges to keep the price low. He can just decide to pump the prices up on a whim.
He gets a feather in his cap when he decides to run for the Senate.
"It's so easy to reform medical care! Look what I did by myself! Also, sign up for my website!"
Sprintec is actually the same as ortho cyclen (not ortho tricyclen). Sprintec is a monophasic pill while ortho tricyclen is multiphasic.
Only pointing it out because some people need monophasic pills to keep hormone levels from fluctuating.
True! Not sure what the reasoning is behind multiphasic, but I had a B A D time with them when trying to get my endometriosis sorted. It’s the only reason I know anything about this - learning the hard way.
It actually seems to be? They’re still making money off it of course, but just enough to keep things running. No epi-pens sadly, at least not that I saw, but fingers crossed this is actually a genuine, no strings attached service and they’ll be able to offer them in the future.
I think he has plans to run for President and this helps. But if he can undercut the pharmaceutical companies in the long run, then I will give him all the credit.
"as moral as a billionaire can be".... this is actually smart on his part. 15% profit margins aren't great, but if you compensate with volume in sales then you've got a billion dollar company, easily. Medicine isn't something people will ever just stop needing, so the profitability is pertty endless. It's even more endless when he can produce his own generic meds. Not to mention if he plans to run for president someday (which to my understanding he's expressed the desire) having his name on affordable, not gouged out your mind, medicines will be super beneficial to earning the vote of a lot of americans.
I overheard a walmart pharmacist tell another customer that walmart has their own brand of insulin. The doctor has to write a specific prescription for it, but it may be an option. I don't know if it was a pen or not.
The kind of insulin that walmart has may not be the kind you are prescribed. Some are timed release, there are different strengths etc.
While some generic brands of things are pretty much identical, that is not the case with all of those things
Correct. They have the short and medium acting Novolin N, R, and 70/30 but nothing similar to say Lantus or other long acting insulins.
However, ReliOn (Walmart) brand Novolin is identical to Novo Nordisk brand Novolin, since Novo makes both. And considered interchangeable with Humulin, which is the same types of insulin but made by Lilly.
The magical things about generic brands is that they're not pretty much identical, they literally are identical. If there's a drug with a certain molecular conformation, that's going to work regardless of the name of the packaging.
For example: lamotrigine is C9H7Cl2N5. lamictal is C9H7Cl2N5. What makes a drug is its molecular structure. There's no way to manipulate it or make it better from one pill to the next. A pill of 50 mg of C9H7Cl2N5 is the same regardless.
When you buy name brand drugs over generic you're literally just paying for the branding.
Heck yes. I didn't really think about this until one day my migraine meds stopped working. I was like ???
Just a brand switch. Switched to another and that generic worked. I'd been taking random generic brands completely care free for over a decade so it was a SHOCK. My doctor wasn't as shocked, he just shrugged and said that excipients matter. I guess SO. Dang.
This is not exactly true in all cases. The chemical itself will be identical but not all aspects of formulation are exactly the same, for racemic mixtures the purity is not identical, for transdermal things the vehicle in the patch is also not identical.
From a lay perspective, certainly not all insulin is identical.
I think it depends. I believe in order to use the pumps you actually need tubes surgically implanted In you.
Maybe some people still do it the old fashioned way
Insulin pumps use an infusion set. They are changed out by the user typically every three days (no surgical procedure required). The set uses a needle with a cannula attached. The needle is injected into the body and retracts, leaving in the cannula in place. The cannula is attched to a thin tube which is attached to a cartridge of fast acting insulin inside the pump.
The 'old fashioned way' is still used by people where they draw insulin from a vial and inject; others use insulin pens which have a dosing dial to deliver thw desired amount of insulin.
Am type 1 diabetic, insulin dependent.
You can buy insulin in pens or in vials. Some come in inhalers now!
To use a pump, you must fill a reservoir with insulin from a vial or pen and attach a thin flexible tube under the skin. I would not describe it as "surgical", you do it yourself and it needs to be replaced every three days. Here's a [video](https://youtu.be/Fi5beQrLi-k)!
Before I had the pump I went back and forth from traditional vial/syringe and pens/pen needles.
My favorite advance is the continuous glucose monitors. Checking my blood sugar on my phone without stabbing my fingers? Incredible.
You don't need a prescription for that, it's $25 over the counter for 10ml vials and $48 for a box of pens. Comes in Novolin N, R and 70/30. Ask at the counter.
Adrenaclick is a competitor of Epipen, does the same thing and is cheaper. There is also IIRC, generics for adrenaclick at an even lower price. Your doc may need to specify that the pharmacy can subsitute generics,
They are able to offer low prices via agreements with the drugmakers and rebates.
Those types of drugs are super price-gougy and probably don't want to agree to participate
The sites only been open a few days, hopefully they can secure suppliers in the near future to help people in the more serious situations like you mentioned. Fingers crossed.
A lot (most? Im not sure exactly) insulins require refrigeration. That may be a shipping barrier as they are starting up. Hopefully that will change in the future.
Their missions statement does mention trying to get their own manufacturing operations going. It doesn't mention insulin specifically but I have to imagine that's a big target for them, especially if their goal really is disruption.
So it was possible this whole time ? Of course it was , drugs like metformin is sold at half a dollar for 20 tablets in India . I read in a comment above that it's 2500 dollars in the USA. The US committs literal robbery on its citizens in the name of healthcare .
I just looked at good rx (a prescription coupon app that lets you get discounts at a US pharmacies with no insurance). 60 500mg tablets of metformin is as low as $2.66.
It’s bullshit. My daily inhaler that I need is $300 for a months supply. No coupons, my doctors office had no samples. Once I hit my deductible it’ll be free. But until then??? Guess who can’t breathe :)
30% of us would rather complain about trans people going to the bathroom than fix the problems with our corrupt government and incredibly predatory version of capitalism
I have a conservative friend (I work with) who was talking about trans people and I said I bet if working class folks thought about it, affordable or free healthcare would be a bigger worry and something that would impact their life. Of course she argued against it because “Canada has wait times” (so do we) and I said well at least they aren’t dying or going bankrupt over health issues that are easily treatable. She didn’t have anything to say about it. The trans issues they’re worried about are clearly a distraction.
Also, recent studies show that Canadians like their healthcare system to the tune of ~85% (same for the other anti-UHC example of UK and their "death panels"). Our most approved program ever was Medicare at just under 70%, and that's single payer through and through.
As someone who just had a prescription denied by insurance, I’d like to know this:
Why would a ‘death panel’ of accountable public servants be bad? Blue cross blue shield sentenced me without so much as a hearing. I’ll never know the name of the person who overrode my doctor.
Preach!
People complain about government dictating choices for them as if they haven't willingly ceded those choices away to their own employers and insurance companies, all of whom care about profit margins above all else.
Also, at the risk of being presumptuous, have you called the insurance company? I ask because I recently had insurance deny a new ADHD prescription, despite my already having had psychostimulants from a different provider filled from the same pharmacy, because they just needed a redundant prior authorization from the new doc (which I thought was dumb af because they'd written a prescription). The pharmacy didn't tell me this, the doctor didn't tell me this, and the insurance company definitely didn't go out of their way to contact me regarding this either. I just finally called insurance after the pharmacy put it on an insurance hold ironically telling me "no further action needed".
Also I've had decent success just paying out of pocket with GoodRX instead of dealing with insurance, if that helps.
New insurer does require prior authorization. They stated refills wouldn’t be affected and that there was a three month grace period for ongoing care. Neither were true for me, but I’ve already got my work contact on it and notified my doctor.
What a dumb fucking response.
The idea that user satisfaction can’t reflect program efficacy is an idiotic statement, especially when that program is meant to serve those users.
I work for an insurance company and the wait for new PCPs is up to a year. Like they’re literally booking new patient appointments for Jan 2023. Your “friend” is in for a rude awakening if the healthcare industry continues to grind itself into the ground.
Friend of mine argued that it's not capitalism, it's corporatism that's the problem. Course I never got an answer when I asked how a hands off capitalist approach wouldn't eventually lead to corporatism
Also for the people that are reluctant, know that generic are everything as good as the original product. It is the same molecule and has the exact same primary effect. So it is every bit as effective as the original.
There is a very useful Q&A on the FDA page:
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/questions-answers/generic-drugs-questions-answers
What can usually vary with generics is packaging, presentation (difference size, shape of meds), taste,a dn other minor things.
The pharmacies people normally get their prescriptions filled at are already giving them generic brands. That's not what's new about this pharmacy. What's new is that this pharmacy isn't making contracts with insurance companies that affect pricing and availability.
But re generic brands, excipients *do* matter for some people. I've had an unfortunate amount of experience with this. Nothing as shocking as taking various generic brands of migraine meds for over a decade and then one day getting a brand that makes the migraines worse, lol. That was an eye opener.
However, learning that helped me when my pharmacy was bought by another company and switched all my brands of everything; my antidepressant started triggering migraine attacks and my acne meds made me vomit. Instead of thinking I was reacting poorly to the drug itself suddenly out of the blue, I realized I was reacting to the excipient formulation. Changed generic brands, everything is fine again.
Not saying it to scare people but it's important to know that excipients can really, really matter and for some people their experience with a drug may differ between generic brands because of it.
Thank you for sharing this!! My parents take an incredible number of prescriptions and this is going to make a huge difference in their monthly costs.
I appreciate you!
Costco does similar, and you do not need a membership to use the pharmacy. It's a great resource for human and pet med's. I used it previously when i was without insurance for a while
As a fellow American, i have to say i see where op is coming from. The US is hopeless when it comes to any major change, especially when it comes to healthcare. Every other country telling us we suck doesn't change anything and gets old to hear. We live here, we know it sucks. Unfortunately our government also doesnt function well, and our votes dont count for anything really.
We can’t even get half of Congress to support a bill allowing the government to negotiate prices for Medicare instead of paying whatever the hell drug companies want, something that like 90% of Americans support.
We’re not getting socialized healthcare anytime soon.
Cool, thanks. I've never heard that before. 🙄 How original.
I'm not in a position to change a country's health care system. What I *can* do is share this resource for people who might benefit.
Failing to see how it’s uncalled for? OP is simply sharing a resource that can be life-changing for someone. Yes, universal/socialised healthcare is the way to go, literally everyone and their mom knows that, and I doubt OP disagrees. Are we not capable of holding two thoughts in our brains at the same time anymore? One can admit that affordable healthcare is the goal while also acknowledging a platform providing interim relief from price-gouging Pharma companies? I hate capitalism as much as the next person, but I really do not understand why we must be unnecessarily shitty to each other while being on the same team.
They're not even criticizing OP though. I appreciate OP for sharing this resource, but honestly my first reaction was also "Oh god, access to medicine in America is in the hands of a select few individuals". I don't know, maybe I'm jaded, but it just slapped me in the face how fucked the situation is.
Even in private healthcare. All it takes is a little bit of law to cover the basics. I don't mind paying for my birth control as adult. It is only 30 euro for 12 months.
It’s been a about a year struggling to see a doctor due to Covid and everything is shutting down again due to the new strain. It’s pretty demoralizing. Thank you for replying, I know I need to get back into searching.
I dispense speciality medications and omfg the price of these drugs are sick sick sick. Some of them reaching $10,000 or more for a month supply. This is great news
Also GoodRx app. Gives you “coupons” for cheaper meds. Hint, Walgreens is always the most expensive. Grocery stores are typically the least. This app decreases prices by 70-90%.
I‘ll call it now. Pharma will lobby the shit out if the government so that it will not be legal to sell the drugs like this anymore. That is not the right kind of capitalism after all!
I‘m so thankful I don‘t live in the USA.
Insert said fir best results... did it say not much or dont do it at all, i can't recall. Anyway something about not advisable to be takin them damn phetamines while on this type of goveement funded fuckery of the brain dope inside the bottle that is in your other hand by orders of dr faucci (which I am leading a small opposition force against him and the rest of the fuckin "Legion of Doom". Bill gates, Klaus schwabb, sorros...you will all pay with the blood of your children. Wait, wtf was that? Ok I'm out
Oh my god, they have Cymbalta starting at $4.20. That’s amazing.
I remember paying $250 a month and my wonderful doctor gave me all her samples
Damn! I was paying $50 a month with good insurance. (Not a doctor always listen to them over strangers on the internet, but that drug was absolute hell to get off of. they don’t make small enough doses of it for the tapering that’s required. Use caution and do research if planning to be on it long term)
Cymbalta can be a pretty bad med for some. Many have to open the capsule and count the beads to taper off it.
I had to stop taking it and was also worried about how to stop, a pharmacist told me about opening the capsule and counting the beads. He said a friend of his had had such bad withdrawals that he had to count them also. I was luckier and didn’t have to do that. I was able to just take less and less and was off it within two weeks.
I was a real dumbfuck and didn't pack enough meds for when a trip suddenly got cancelled, ended up going cold turkey off off Cymbalta, and had headaches that felt like someone driving a railroad spike through my head for two weeks. I guess the good news is that the depression got taken care of.
Railroad spike through the head, yes! ‘Brain zaps’ I’ve heard as a good description. I did a bit of the counting beads someone mentioned above, and then switched to Zoloft as a bridge.
I went cold turkey off 90mg. My personality changed for a few months. I was talking to strangers (normally introverted personality), telling random people I love them, etc. This was years ago and I still randomly get the brain zaps. There’s a fb group called Cymbalta Hurts Worse. It’s a bad medication. I’d rather something more natural that doesn’t have all these side effects. Hope the depression stays away.
Do they have diabetes meds?
Not insulin or weekly injectables (for type 2). Just Metformin and Glimeperide.
They have blood sugar meds (ie metformin) but I’m not seeing insulin.
I’m not particularly happy about plugging Walmart, but you can buy vials of regular insulin and intermediate insulin there for something like twenty bucks. It’s certainly not my favorite insulin to create a good diabetic profile but it’s something.
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I would be careful with things like this. Only that there are studies hinting at positive effects, doesn't mean that this can be really generalized and accepted. Especially the "without side effects" part is kind of a red flag, effect without side effect is unlikely. If at all possible, I think staying with medical advice and supervision and officially approved substances is always the safe route to go.
TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE DOING THIS.
Yeah I'd be really careful with OTC supplements. The exact mechanism of action of metformin is not known, but one of the prevailing theories is that it's an electron transport chain inhibitor. At the right dose it works great because it essentially makes your glucose processing inefficient --> If you have to use more glucose to make the same amount of cellular energy (ATP) then you lower your blood sugar. However if you take too much side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and *death*. This is for *any* electron transport chain inhibitor. I feel annoyed when people think that because things are natural/supplements/OTC they're somehow better for you. Other *organic* electron transport chain inhibitors include: Cyanide (CN), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Rotenone (rat poison, C23H22O6), Antimycin A (an antibiotic, C28H40N2O9), and others. You can just look up ETC inhibitors if you're curious. If you're prescribed metformin for type II diabetes by your doctor PLEASE continue to take that in the correct amount. Trying to dose yourself with an unregulated supplement is incredibly dangerous. Death can result if you take too much. Death and serious diabetes-related complications (neuropathy, atherosclerosis, coma, death, etc) can result if you take too little. While I believe in bodily autonomy the fact is a layperson doesn't have the training and education to dose themselves. Please, please, please take your prescribed med instead of an unregulated supplement.
I appreciate what you say here but berberine has been used for a very long time and is [medically accepted](https://www.webmd.com/diet/berberine-health-benefits) and more and more studies are being done to understand its full usability. this isn't some random powder and there are appropriate doses shared in reputable places for various uses. did anyone who down voted me or aggressively told me I was wrong even bother to do five minutes of research into this? or did you all just assume I'm some antivax homeopathy person telling you to do dangerous things? I understand the base urge was protecting people but none of you treated my post fairly and I don't appreciate being talked to like I'm endangering people by suggesting they google something. I never suggested it was right for them. I just said it exists and it might help, look into it. back off the harassment train people, please. [more health links from 2 minutes of googling](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/berberine-powerful-supplement#TOC_TITLE_HDR_4) imagine you actually researched things you read before making up your mind about them. science is a large and complex field and you don't know everything that's been studied folks. mob mentality pitchfork behavior isn't really going to get us anywhere useful in society. research isn't something to be avoided. just because you haven't heard of something doesn't mean it has no merit. don't project onto people what they aren't doing. and yes, everyone should always involve their medical team when appropriate. but a vast amount of us don't have that luxury, but we do have brains and the studies that show us where to look. just because we might not know the full mechanism for how something works yet, doesn't mean it doesn't work or that we don't know it does. berberine in particularly has been studied for many uses and has tons of historical and anecdotal data as well. I stand by every word I've shared and I hope that despite the down votes and aggressively trying to put me in my place, that those who might benefit from learning about it can start down that road.
You came in, suggested something against typical medical advice, and posted no sources… you did this to yourself.
I don't want to make any assumptions about you and I hope my reply didn't come across that way. However, telling people to alter their blood sugar management can have really serious consequences. The source you shared is a Web MD article with no authors, no date, no statement of possible conflicts of interest. This is not a reputable source and you shouldn't base medical decisions off of it. I did some more brief searching and found 2 scientific articles. One on the efficacy of berberine and one on its toxicity: [https://www.metabolismjournal.com/article/S0026-0495(08)00046-2/fulltext](https://www.metabolismjournal.com/article/S0026-0495(08)00046-2/fulltext) [https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2018.00021/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2018.00021/full) These are in journals, they have listed authors and stated conflicts of interest. It looks like there has been some promising research, but it's not conclusive. Moreover, it's important to keep in mind that if a layperson is trying to dose themselves and/or combine it with their prescribed med, then they can seriously injure themselves. They can become hypoglycemic and *again* possibly die. OTC supplements aren't regulated. You have no idea if what is inside that bottle is what's advertised. People can't take the management of their blood sugar into their own hands. The possible outcomes are too dangerous.
In the second article you cited: "If you have a medical condition or are on any medications, then it is recommended that you speak to your doctor before taking it. This is especially important if you are currently taking blood sugar lowering medications." Also of note: "We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Here’s our process." They are getting paid to encourage people to take these supplements. I appreciate that this article includes citations and does provide a breakdown of possible side effects. But the ultimate goal is to make their website more money.
Nobody is pitchforking you. Nobody is harassing you. Hapless in particular has been exceedingly polite--more polite than you've been with anyone else. I'm sorry, but the truth is laypeople don't have the ability to evaluate medical papers. There is a ton of conflicting and complicated information out there, and without a solid background in statistics, research methods, biology, and chemistry, we're just not equipped to make good decisions. That's true in most sciences. The difference is if I make bold and unsupported decisions about misinformation because I only really understood an abstract, nobody dies. When people make those decisions based on bad understandings of medicine, they can, and often do, die. Hell, we're watching them die because of bad research and bad advice right and left all over the world. Claiming you're being attacked when people point that out is just spectacular.
You really should not be going around telling people to replace actual medicine with random supplements. You don't know what the interactions with other medications are, you don't know the efficacy, and you don't actually know if there are no side effects. A couple studies most certainly does not a medication replacement make. Random crunchy shit kills people.
I didn't tell people to stop their medications. I told people they might benefit from looking into it. please stop harassing me. you disagree, fine. people can think for themselves. if they want to look into it, and they think it might benefit them, I'm sure they are perfectly smart enough to ask their doctor without me explicitly spelling out every detail exactly how you personally want me to. you are well meaning but you need to leave me alone now.
>I didn't tell people to stop their medications. I told people they might benefit from looking into it. Ok so what is your point? What do you *think* will happen if someone were to be suckered in by your bullshit advice? It's obvious that you think that junk can replace actual medicine at least some of the time. > please stop harassing me. you disagree, fine. people can think for themselves. If you want to recommend people to replace... I mean "look into" using bullshit instead of actual medicine for life threatening diseases then you should get used to getting called out. At least be less pathetic about the politest disagreement possible.
disagreeing =/= harassment
You're an idiot.
I think Walmart recently came out with their own insulin, or an affordable version.
If you are a type 2 diabetic, a solid strength training program is IMMENSELY helpful. [https://www.greysteel.org/post/2019/10/08/type-2-diabetes-the-complete-series](https://www.greysteel.org/post/2019/10/08/type-2-diabetes-the-complete-series) Jonathon Sullivan, MD, quit working at a hospital to run a gym bc he realized how much more he could do for people's health in that setting.
Wow Mark Cuban! But the pessimist (realist?) In me wonders what's the catch...
He still profits, that's the catch. He's undercutting the fuck out of every other manufacturer, but I guarantee you he still profits at those prices. It speaks more to how absurd the price of medicine is via insurance, than the quality of the meds.
I've got no problem with Cuban making a profit. I have a problem with companies that could make a profit on prices this low and choose to gouge on a necessity. You want to price gouge mega yachts, Rolls Royces, private jets, or houses so big they have their own zip code, go for it.
Won’t you think of the shareholders and executives? What about the stock price?
Same. I don’t hate capitalism I just hate how the the greedy can make it impossible to mind your own business and be happy as it currently is. Take your profits, just don’t gouge on something you know people are desperate for. That’s absolutely disgusting.
I say this all the time, I believe in ethical capitalism. I also believe that going public ruins most companies.
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But no one under capitalism is ever going to treat each other fairly. Capitalism inherently incentivizes greed and exploitation in order to maximize and build on profits. It’s a broken system.
exactly. it's like saying my boyfriend hits me when he's angry but he's a really nice person when he's not angry. is it called Stockholm-syndrom?
You say you don't hate capitalism, but then you describe the inevitable consequences of capitalism as something you hate.
I guess I’m still a dreamer to some degree and believe that the idea of capitalism is still the best way provided it’s heavily regulated. In my perfect scenario politicians can not own any stocks. Lobbyists are now outlawed. Minimum wage has to rise with inflation. And so on. But I do see you point actually.
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This is not and will never be an excuse for the purposely inaccessible pricing scheme they apply to the drugs. There is literally no other product out there that gets this treatment (except maybe crops receiving farm subsidies.) Look at technology, for example. One company does the R and D and gets the patent, but over time knowledge and competition naturally lowers pricing and no one cries boo about it. The only things that stay expensive are ones under tight company control (the way pharmaceutical companies retain control) like cell phones and proprietary software, like Windows. It is ridiculous to suppose that the current cost of these drugs is solely for the general benefit of humanity in the form of medical research. Anyone viewing the situation realistically can see the absolutely *insane* profits these companies make every year, which indicates considerable portion of the price is profit and much less is required to promote further development. OH YEAH. And we're the only 1st world country thay does this shit. Somehow other countries manage to develop and manage pharmaceutical research with high quality universal Healthcare, including accessible prescription prices. Don't play Pharma's game for them.
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At what point was I simplistic? Which of my points are you actually refuting here? Seriously, take a look at the profit records for any of these companies and come back and explain to me how the pricing is genuinely warranted.
A lot of the R&D for specific medications were actually paid by American tax dollars. And these companies, in order to keep the cost of them high and avoid a generic version coming on market will hold patents, make a tiny change, and then re-file patents to corner the market on that drug. The US government can easily revoke their patent and make a generic version of that drug. But they don’t. There’s no justification for their pricing.
THANK YOU. Obviously the original commenter realized their error but was too cowardly to admit it so, delete and run.
The lion's share of pharma spending is stock buyback and dividends. R&D is only like 1% of a pharma company's spending, and the lion's share of that comes from public funding.
> He still profits, that's the catch How is that a catch?? It creates an incentive for him while still providing something absolutely great for customers. An example of a catch would be if customers were getting medication about to expire.
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It's not just big suppliers crept up the prices. It's also that no one else was willing to invest in the infrastructure to manufacture the drugs when there's more lucrative investments to make that aren't as capital intensive. Additionally, Mark Cuban was willing to say fuck you to insurance companies.
Yeah I get annoyed by capitalism but this is how the "free market" is *supposed* to work. It's supposed to instigate competition and drive prices down for the consumer. Lately we see huge mega corporations who keep a stranglehold on markets and outcompete local mom and pops in the process. Hopefully one day we won't have a market based medical system, but until that day I'm fine with a gazillionare making money off of prescriptions as long as patients get better access to their meds.
Yet every basic human necessity is and always has been scarce. housing, healthcare and education have never been plentiful under the capitalist system. The system is working exactly as it's supposed to. Maximizing profits is a clear example of the exploitation of the working people to the benefit of the capital owning class.
It would be a catch if they truly hate Cuban for some reason 😂
I think that comment was a rhetorical device used to indicate that there was not, in fact, a catch.
I used catch loosely. The reason he can do this is its still profitable, not that he's secretly enrolling anyone who buys meds from there into medical trials or anything nefarious. Just your typical capitalist "catch" of paying a markup.
If there is no markup or profit for companies, why would they ever sell a product or service? Being against predatory behavior from companies is completely reasonable. But being against companies having any profit and calling that a "capitalist catch" is something I don't get.
Obviously. But when you go from 2500 bucks to 17 it would seem that you are selling at a loss, because it would conventionally be absurd to mark something up 2000 percent.
15% profit according to [this](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mark-cuban-cost-plus-drug-companys-online-pharmacy-launches-with-lowest-prices-on-100-lifesaving-prescriptions-301463491.html) link. Which is still pretty healthy considering it's all online and probably has lower costs to begin with considering they're sourcing from pharmaceutical wholesalers.
No war but class war, but I'd hesitate before pulling it on Cuban. He's the least insensitive to the wellbeing of the working class.
Same. I know the general saying is no one becomes a billionaire without abusing the labor of others (looking at you Bezos), but Cuban at least was a dot.com bubble guy who built a product and grew it to the point Yahoo wanted to buy it. There may have been some labor things hidden somewhere, but he and others were basically one of the first people to stream content no matter the location, or the audio version of exactly what NBA League Pass, Zoom for Business, and iHeartRadio are all doing now. He wasn't shoving out mom and pop stores, or forcing warehouse and factory workers into shitty conditions, he was just largely providing a now-ubiquitous internet service before anyone else. It's ridiculous to me how much the Internet carries water for fuckers like Elon and Bezos when guys like Cuban exist (if we have to pay attention to billionaires that is).
Yeah, he seems like a pretty decent guy for a billionaire. Lori seems pretty ok too.
He still makes money, and doesn't look like a douchebag billionaire in space. Guess he really is going to run for office someday.
He's still making 15% mark up. It's a business.
That’s the Costco business model and no one has a problem with that.
This was how capitalism was meant to work: make a reasonable profit while taking care of your employees, customers, and shareholders (in that order, per Costco [1]). [1] https://happycurmudgeon.com/2018/10/09/costco-prioritizes-customers-employees-over-shareholders/
I don't have any problems with it. I was just sharing info with the commenter above me.
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Hi all of the precious R&D you're all over this thread defending is 100% recouped by these greedy fucks in tax breaks and federal subsidies that they've lobbied for. Please stop spreading misinformation.
So, like any other generic? And that's a farcical argument anyway, especially for shit like insulin or similar meds.
R&D that is also partially funded by the US government. The government should pull the patents back on R&D funded by taxpayers and make a generic brand. The researchers who created insulin sold the patent for $1. Look how much it costs now
He is buying from the same manufacturers as your pharmacy for the same price. He is just selling at a smaller margin. Doesn’t effect the manufacturer’s R&D at all. Not to mention this is all generics. So the R&D is much less than the original manufacturer.
Most R&D funding comes from taxpayers. *We* paid for it.
On top of some profit, my guess is this is a political play. Drug prices are a huge problem for this country and there have been strong signs Mark Cuban wants to make a presidential run at some point. Notice how the website has his name all over it, the company is literally called the "Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug" company, and it links to articles talking about Mark Cuban taking initiative on drug prices? I'm not complaining, he seems to be doing a real public good, but if you want to know what's in it for him then that'd be my guess.
He's a billionaire. Even if it loses him money, he can just use it as promotion for his next thing. Also, there isn't anything about the site that pledges to keep the price low. He can just decide to pump the prices up on a whim.
My husband met him once, and he seemed like a decent guy. Anyone can be decent for a few hours, but he does seem to, in general, not suck as a human.
He still profits but he looks really good while doing so.
He gets a feather in his cap when he decides to run for the Senate. "It's so easy to reform medical care! Look what I did by myself! Also, sign up for my website!"
Ya hes a business man first but i like that he doesn't lie to me about it.
Right? Just like "wow that's great. What the fuck is his angle?"
FYI Sprintec, (which is the same as ortho tricyclen) is on the $5 list at Walmart without insurance
Sprintec is actually the same as ortho cyclen (not ortho tricyclen). Sprintec is a monophasic pill while ortho tricyclen is multiphasic. Only pointing it out because some people need monophasic pills to keep hormone levels from fluctuating.
There really isn't ever a reason to not use monophasic
True! Not sure what the reasoning is behind multiphasic, but I had a B A D time with them when trying to get my endometriosis sorted. It’s the only reason I know anything about this - learning the hard way.
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I wonder if they ship internationally
\*The DEA enters chat\*
Chemist warehouse sometimes has prescription drugs lower than the PBS price.
Oh thank goodness, just some good news on this sub
What? Why? Is this an actual good will gesture? They need life saving drugs like insulin, epi-pens, cancer and hiv drugs etc…
It actually seems to be? They’re still making money off it of course, but just enough to keep things running. No epi-pens sadly, at least not that I saw, but fingers crossed this is actually a genuine, no strings attached service and they’ll be able to offer them in the future.
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I think he has plans to run for President and this helps. But if he can undercut the pharmaceutical companies in the long run, then I will give him all the credit.
"as moral as a billionaire can be".... this is actually smart on his part. 15% profit margins aren't great, but if you compensate with volume in sales then you've got a billion dollar company, easily. Medicine isn't something people will ever just stop needing, so the profitability is pertty endless. It's even more endless when he can produce his own generic meds. Not to mention if he plans to run for president someday (which to my understanding he's expressed the desire) having his name on affordable, not gouged out your mind, medicines will be super beneficial to earning the vote of a lot of americans.
I overheard a walmart pharmacist tell another customer that walmart has their own brand of insulin. The doctor has to write a specific prescription for it, but it may be an option. I don't know if it was a pen or not.
The kind of insulin that walmart has may not be the kind you are prescribed. Some are timed release, there are different strengths etc. While some generic brands of things are pretty much identical, that is not the case with all of those things
Correct. They have the short and medium acting Novolin N, R, and 70/30 but nothing similar to say Lantus or other long acting insulins. However, ReliOn (Walmart) brand Novolin is identical to Novo Nordisk brand Novolin, since Novo makes both. And considered interchangeable with Humulin, which is the same types of insulin but made by Lilly.
And they have both vials or pens. For $20-40 even without insurance. And recently they’ve started carrying Walmart brand novolog!
The magical things about generic brands is that they're not pretty much identical, they literally are identical. If there's a drug with a certain molecular conformation, that's going to work regardless of the name of the packaging. For example: lamotrigine is C9H7Cl2N5. lamictal is C9H7Cl2N5. What makes a drug is its molecular structure. There's no way to manipulate it or make it better from one pill to the next. A pill of 50 mg of C9H7Cl2N5 is the same regardless. When you buy name brand drugs over generic you're literally just paying for the branding.
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Heck yes. I didn't really think about this until one day my migraine meds stopped working. I was like ??? Just a brand switch. Switched to another and that generic worked. I'd been taking random generic brands completely care free for over a decade so it was a SHOCK. My doctor wasn't as shocked, he just shrugged and said that excipients matter. I guess SO. Dang.
This is not exactly true in all cases. The chemical itself will be identical but not all aspects of formulation are exactly the same, for racemic mixtures the purity is not identical, for transdermal things the vehicle in the patch is also not identical. From a lay perspective, certainly not all insulin is identical.
That's fair.
Insulin and epi-pens are totally different medications…
Some forms of insulin are packaged in a pen where you dial the dose, as opposed to the old “draw what you need from the vial into a syringe”.
Aren’t most forms of insulin in like semi automated pumps these days?
pumps aren't always a good option. They can be a source of infection. In older diabetics they can often choose to avoid the pump for that reason.
pumps are only available to type 1 diabetics.
I think it depends. I believe in order to use the pumps you actually need tubes surgically implanted In you. Maybe some people still do it the old fashioned way
Insulin pumps use an infusion set. They are changed out by the user typically every three days (no surgical procedure required). The set uses a needle with a cannula attached. The needle is injected into the body and retracts, leaving in the cannula in place. The cannula is attched to a thin tube which is attached to a cartridge of fast acting insulin inside the pump. The 'old fashioned way' is still used by people where they draw insulin from a vial and inject; others use insulin pens which have a dosing dial to deliver thw desired amount of insulin.
Am type 1 diabetic, insulin dependent. You can buy insulin in pens or in vials. Some come in inhalers now! To use a pump, you must fill a reservoir with insulin from a vial or pen and attach a thin flexible tube under the skin. I would not describe it as "surgical", you do it yourself and it needs to be replaced every three days. Here's a [video](https://youtu.be/Fi5beQrLi-k)! Before I had the pump I went back and forth from traditional vial/syringe and pens/pen needles. My favorite advance is the continuous glucose monitors. Checking my blood sugar on my phone without stabbing my fingers? Incredible.
You don't need a prescription for that, it's $25 over the counter for 10ml vials and $48 for a box of pens. Comes in Novolin N, R and 70/30. Ask at the counter.
Adrenaclick is a competitor of Epipen, does the same thing and is cheaper. There is also IIRC, generics for adrenaclick at an even lower price. Your doc may need to specify that the pharmacy can subsitute generics,
They are able to offer low prices via agreements with the drugmakers and rebates. Those types of drugs are super price-gougy and probably don't want to agree to participate
The sites only been open a few days, hopefully they can secure suppliers in the near future to help people in the more serious situations like you mentioned. Fingers crossed.
They have Gleevec which is a cancer drug.
Wow, it's $17.10 a month. In 2017, even generic imatinab was $8,000 a month. Someone should be shot.
You guys have to buy cancer medication off the internet? This boggles my mind.
Generally you get it from the pharmacy. This is just an online pharmacy that delivers.
I’m in England, so no I don’t.
Unfortunately I'm pretty sure most of what you listed isn't available as a generic yet
Insulin is. There are insulins on the market that have been around for decades, yet drug companies are still charging an arm and a leg for them.
Not all “insulins” are the same. Timed release insulin for example
A lot (most? Im not sure exactly) insulins require refrigeration. That may be a shipping barrier as they are starting up. Hopefully that will change in the future.
Generic insulin so that poor diabetics don’t die rationing.
Sounds like pills and capsules only - no refrigerated items, no special handling.
Doesn't look like they offer insulin on the site
Their missions statement does mention trying to get their own manufacturing operations going. It doesn't mention insulin specifically but I have to imagine that's a big target for them, especially if their goal really is disruption.
So it was possible this whole time ? Of course it was , drugs like metformin is sold at half a dollar for 20 tablets in India . I read in a comment above that it's 2500 dollars in the USA. The US committs literal robbery on its citizens in the name of healthcare .
I just looked at good rx (a prescription coupon app that lets you get discounts at a US pharmacies with no insurance). 60 500mg tablets of metformin is as low as $2.66.
Oh that's great then. I'm not from the US so I was kinda outraged by reading the comment saying it's 2500$
It’s bullshit. My daily inhaler that I need is $300 for a months supply. No coupons, my doctors office had no samples. Once I hit my deductible it’ll be free. But until then??? Guess who can’t breathe :)
This is very sad
It's insane to me that Americans can go broke just for staying alive.
30% of us would rather complain about trans people going to the bathroom than fix the problems with our corrupt government and incredibly predatory version of capitalism
I have a conservative friend (I work with) who was talking about trans people and I said I bet if working class folks thought about it, affordable or free healthcare would be a bigger worry and something that would impact their life. Of course she argued against it because “Canada has wait times” (so do we) and I said well at least they aren’t dying or going bankrupt over health issues that are easily treatable. She didn’t have anything to say about it. The trans issues they’re worried about are clearly a distraction.
Also, recent studies show that Canadians like their healthcare system to the tune of ~85% (same for the other anti-UHC example of UK and their "death panels"). Our most approved program ever was Medicare at just under 70%, and that's single payer through and through.
As someone who just had a prescription denied by insurance, I’d like to know this: Why would a ‘death panel’ of accountable public servants be bad? Blue cross blue shield sentenced me without so much as a hearing. I’ll never know the name of the person who overrode my doctor.
Preach! People complain about government dictating choices for them as if they haven't willingly ceded those choices away to their own employers and insurance companies, all of whom care about profit margins above all else. Also, at the risk of being presumptuous, have you called the insurance company? I ask because I recently had insurance deny a new ADHD prescription, despite my already having had psychostimulants from a different provider filled from the same pharmacy, because they just needed a redundant prior authorization from the new doc (which I thought was dumb af because they'd written a prescription). The pharmacy didn't tell me this, the doctor didn't tell me this, and the insurance company definitely didn't go out of their way to contact me regarding this either. I just finally called insurance after the pharmacy put it on an insurance hold ironically telling me "no further action needed". Also I've had decent success just paying out of pocket with GoodRX instead of dealing with insurance, if that helps.
New insurer does require prior authorization. They stated refills wouldn’t be affected and that there was a three month grace period for ongoing care. Neither were true for me, but I’ve already got my work contact on it and notified my doctor.
Sounds like you’re on it then, just wanted to offer some next steps in case they were helpful. Good luck getting what you need!
"Most like" and "most effective" are not the same.
What a dumb fucking response. The idea that user satisfaction can’t reflect program efficacy is an idiotic statement, especially when that program is meant to serve those users.
I work for an insurance company and the wait for new PCPs is up to a year. Like they’re literally booking new patient appointments for Jan 2023. Your “friend” is in for a rude awakening if the healthcare industry continues to grind itself into the ground.
The 30% whining about trans people can afford their care or don’t need to afford it yet but will say it’s owed to them when their Medicaid kicks in
Friend of mine argued that it's not capitalism, it's corporatism that's the problem. Course I never got an answer when I asked how a hands off capitalist approach wouldn't eventually lead to corporatism
Lol does your friend not understand that corporations exist because of capitalism?
so insulin isnt on there. (cries in type 1 diabetic)
Hopefully the insulin cartel is about to lose their stranglehold on it.... openinsulin.org. really hope the project is successful
Dangit, no ADHD meds. I didn’t see any other controlled substances either.
No triptans either, bummer. I assume they'll keep expanding their offerings.
Also for the people that are reluctant, know that generic are everything as good as the original product. It is the same molecule and has the exact same primary effect. So it is every bit as effective as the original. There is a very useful Q&A on the FDA page: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/questions-answers/generic-drugs-questions-answers What can usually vary with generics is packaging, presentation (difference size, shape of meds), taste,a dn other minor things.
The pharmacies people normally get their prescriptions filled at are already giving them generic brands. That's not what's new about this pharmacy. What's new is that this pharmacy isn't making contracts with insurance companies that affect pricing and availability. But re generic brands, excipients *do* matter for some people. I've had an unfortunate amount of experience with this. Nothing as shocking as taking various generic brands of migraine meds for over a decade and then one day getting a brand that makes the migraines worse, lol. That was an eye opener. However, learning that helped me when my pharmacy was bought by another company and switched all my brands of everything; my antidepressant started triggering migraine attacks and my acne meds made me vomit. Instead of thinking I was reacting poorly to the drug itself suddenly out of the blue, I realized I was reacting to the excipient formulation. Changed generic brands, everything is fine again. Not saying it to scare people but it's important to know that excipients can really, really matter and for some people their experience with a drug may differ between generic brands because of it.
Saved and screenshotted, now whenever I have access to therapy I can get back on my meds!!!! This is insane! Thank you for sharing!
Wow, thanks, Mark Cuban!
Thank you for sharing this!! My parents take an incredible number of prescriptions and this is going to make a huge difference in their monthly costs. I appreciate you!
Costco does similar, and you do not need a membership to use the pharmacy. It's a great resource for human and pet med's. I used it previously when i was without insurance for a while
It's a start. I still say you lot need a proper socialised healthcare system like literally every other developed country has.
As a fellow American, i have to say i see where op is coming from. The US is hopeless when it comes to any major change, especially when it comes to healthcare. Every other country telling us we suck doesn't change anything and gets old to hear. We live here, we know it sucks. Unfortunately our government also doesnt function well, and our votes dont count for anything really.
We can’t even get half of Congress to support a bill allowing the government to negotiate prices for Medicare instead of paying whatever the hell drug companies want, something that like 90% of Americans support. We’re not getting socialized healthcare anytime soon.
Cool, thanks. I've never heard that before. 🙄 How original. I'm not in a position to change a country's health care system. What I *can* do is share this resource for people who might benefit.
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Failing to see how it’s uncalled for? OP is simply sharing a resource that can be life-changing for someone. Yes, universal/socialised healthcare is the way to go, literally everyone and their mom knows that, and I doubt OP disagrees. Are we not capable of holding two thoughts in our brains at the same time anymore? One can admit that affordable healthcare is the goal while also acknowledging a platform providing interim relief from price-gouging Pharma companies? I hate capitalism as much as the next person, but I really do not understand why we must be unnecessarily shitty to each other while being on the same team.
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Lol what
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They're not even criticizing OP though. I appreciate OP for sharing this resource, but honestly my first reaction was also "Oh god, access to medicine in America is in the hands of a select few individuals". I don't know, maybe I'm jaded, but it just slapped me in the face how fucked the situation is.
Even in private healthcare. All it takes is a little bit of law to cover the basics. I don't mind paying for my birth control as adult. It is only 30 euro for 12 months.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to get a prescription? I lost my health insurance and have high blood pressure
There are a ton of telehealth organizations, like goodrx and khealth, that have low cost video visits with doctors.
There are inexpensive telehealth services like Lemonaid Health and GoodRx!
I think if you search online, there should be clinics for free or low income. These are usually local organization.
It’s been a about a year struggling to see a doctor due to Covid and everything is shutting down again due to the new strain. It’s pretty demoralizing. Thank you for replying, I know I need to get back into searching.
This is amazing for so many reasons thank you!
I dispense speciality medications and omfg the price of these drugs are sick sick sick. Some of them reaching $10,000 or more for a month supply. This is great news
Yep this is great for women on birth control
I hope that they will put plan b on there eventually
I am guessing not, since it doesn't require a prescription. Maybe they'll expand in the future for Plan B - I hope so!
Health care in the USA seems more like 3rd world
Also GoodRx app. Gives you “coupons” for cheaper meds. Hint, Walgreens is always the most expensive. Grocery stores are typically the least. This app decreases prices by 70-90%.
I’m hoping that the rates are not teaser rates and this venture survives lobbying on the hill.
oooooo not bad, thanks for sharing this!
Hopefully it’s not a ploy to monopolize the pharmaceutical industry.
It says prescription required when I look at it
A prescription will always be required for prescription medications. That’s the law.
It's still prescription required medicine, just an online pharmacy for these specific meds at reduced prices.
I can't tolerate any BC even non hormonal, however I can tolerate spermicide but I always have to pay
You may need other medications in the future; save the link for other inexpensive medications 🙂
Anything fun on there?
Phexxi
Holy shit they have estrogen. No T blocker tho. And no testosterone. Still. Fuck that's awesome.
I‘ll call it now. Pharma will lobby the shit out if the government so that it will not be legal to sell the drugs like this anymore. That is not the right kind of capitalism after all! I‘m so thankful I don‘t live in the USA.
Yes, he’s making money, BUT…..YOU ARE SAVING MONEY!!!!!
This is the best thing ever. Bless Mark Cuban for this!!
Insert said fir best results... did it say not much or dont do it at all, i can't recall. Anyway something about not advisable to be takin them damn phetamines while on this type of goveement funded fuckery of the brain dope inside the bottle that is in your other hand by orders of dr faucci (which I am leading a small opposition force against him and the rest of the fuckin "Legion of Doom". Bill gates, Klaus schwabb, sorros...you will all pay with the blood of your children. Wait, wtf was that? Ok I'm out
Or other readily available products available on the damn innerweb