One month into the new year and drug prices are already increasing.
 |  | By Paola de Varona, News Editor | | | One month into the new year and drug prices are already increasing. But we do have some good news: It might be the perfect time to switch pharmacies. | | | Today's Top Story | | Will This Low-Cost Pharmacy Finally Make Drugs Affordable? |  | Americans have been struggling with rising prescription drug prices for years. But billionaire investor Mark Cuban is trying to change that with a new pharmacy.
Last month, Cuban launched The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company. The company acts as a pharmaceutical wholesaler, meaning it purchases drugs directly from manufacturers, bypassing middlemen like insurance companies. Cost Plus isn't the first company to do this (CVS has a similar program), but it's aiming to be transparent about its drug costs.
100 generic drugs are available on the site. Each drug includes a detailed explanation about how much the company paid for it, plus why there's a 15% markup and $3 pharmacist fee. | | Know More | | Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are largely responsible for outrageous drug prices. They're the companies that administer, or handle, the drug benefit program for your health plan. And they reap profits from keeping drug costs a secret. Cuban's new pharmacy acts as its own PBM and is notably breaking from tradition by vowing to be transparent in its negotiations with drug manufacturers. | | Feel Better | Though Cuban's company doesn't accept insurance and requires you to pay out of pocket, many of its drugs likely cost less than most insurance deductible/co-pay requirements.
For example, the pharmacy offers a 30-day count of imatinib, a drug used to treat leukemia and other cancers, for as low as $17.10. Even for those who are insured, this drug can average around $85 per month of out-of-pocket costs. | | |  | | A September 2021 Gallup poll found that 18 million Americans were recently unable to pay for at least one prescription medication for their household due to rising costs. |  |  | | Why the Joe Rogan Spotify Saga Is a Public Health Issue | | You've probably heard about Joe Rogan a lot lately. The popular podcaster was recently criticized by healthcare professionals for promoting "baseless conspiracy theories" regarding the pandemic. And musicians like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell asked Spotify to choose between them and Rogan. (Spoiler alert: Spotify chose Rogan, who gets more than 11 million daily listeners.) Instead, the platform will now be flagging any COVID-related content with links to relevant health information. | | | | Moderna Vaccine Led to Fewer Breakthrough Infections | | COVID vaccines aren't foolproof, which means there's still a chance vaccinated people will get infected. A new study found that the risk for breakthrough infections was higher among people who received Pfizer versus those who received Moderna. The study didn't dive into why there was a difference in risk between the two vaccines. But it could be a matter of dosing or even the waiting period between your first and second shots. | | | | | |  | | Muddling through health information online can be challenging. Alok Patel, MD, a pediatrician and ABC News special correspondent based in San Francisco, California, suggests a few things you can watch out for in an interview with Verywell. |  | | People need to pay extra attention to the source of the information they're reading, whether it's a social media post, a blog article, or a headline. Look to see if the author is a credible source, affiliated with a healthcare or public health organization, and/or appropriately citing healthcare, science, and public health professionals. | |  |  | Alok Patel, MD
Pediatrician and ABC News special correspondent based in San Francisco, California
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