Mark Cuban is on a mission.
The “Shark Tank” entrepreneur and star is committed to lowering the cost of medicine, making it accessible to all, and preventing financial ruin among uninsured or uninsured patients.
Online pharmacy Cost Plus Medicines is an investor founded by Alexander Oshmiansky. The company sells prescription drugs directly to consumers at low prices.
“Our social mission is as important as the bottom line of improving public health,” the company said on its website.
“We have built a vertically integrated supply chain to clearly charge a standard markup on every drug we sell.”
Cost Plus Medicines “fills and delivers prescriptions at our expense and with a fixed margin of 15%,” he adds.
Cuban destroyer
If the many testimonials on Cuba’s Twitter account are any indication, consumers will welcome his initiative. Here are some from the past few days:
“$6.60 for my allergy meds. I usually pay $40 out of pocket even for the same insurance.
“I’ve decided to try @costplusdrugs this week because my new health insurance company @AnthemBCBS denied my docs for over a year of $350/month prescriptions that were accepted by my old insurance company,” another user wrote. (Principle)
“I found a coupon for the drug on @GoodRx but it would still be $110/month at @cvspharmacy, who couldn’t help me find a way to get the drug cheaper. If you ask @cvspharmacy, they can match the price with another pharmacy’s discount and they still refuse,” the person continued. (CVS)
Scroll to continue.
“Then I remember signing up for @costplusdrugs when @mcuban was introduced. I just ordered a three month supply of drugs for $75 and it’s delivered within a week.”
Abusing the image of Cuba
Cuban is best known for his involvement on “Shark Tank” and the National Basketball Association’s transformation of the Dallas Mavericks. Some users have even gone so far as to call for Cuban, who has troubled the pharmaceutical industry, to run for president in 2024.
But with its popularity came its disadvantages.
One is that some people are using the image of Cuban and especially his efforts in the pharmaceutical industry to scam people on social media. For example, someone is promoting a product intended for men and using a Cuban image on Facebook to attract people.
In a photomontage, we see the supposed Cuban holding a box of fake product. “It’s a lie,” the billionaire warned on August 21. “I get a constant stream of emails from people asking why they’re being double charged or why I’m not working for them,” they warned.
The billionaire is particularly active on Facebook. (META) To allow the scam to spread even though it violates Facebook’s content policy. He also calls American Express. (AXP) Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) Because the fraudsters accept their cards as a form of payment.
“Yet @Meta or @Mastercard, @visa or @AmericanExpress, the supposed fraud protections don’t do anything bad!”
“The topic of alleged or fraudulent celebrity endorsements is something we routinely monitor when our brand is mentioned or is thought to be in preparation for purchases,” a MasterCard spokesperson said in an emailed statement to TheStreet.
“In these cases – and when we receive referrals or allegations of illegal or illegal content that can be purchased with our products – we will investigate the claims. If the claims are proven, we will take immediate action,” the spokesperson added.
American Express and Visa did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Meta also did not respond to questions from TheStreet.