Last month, the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCPDC) launched an online pharmacy with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of pharmaceutical drugs to the uninsured and the underinsured.
With the mission of making sure every American has access to the medication he/she needs, as well as introducing the concept of pricing transparency to the pharmaceutical industry, Cuban (the Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank star) aims to alleviate obstacles people face when purchasing medications.
"No middleman. No price games. Huge direct savings," the front page of the company's website makes its objectives clear.
And while this venture is clearly a for-profit business -- not a charity -- its operating mentality is certainly charitable in nature. By committing to work with pharmaceutical companies in order to sell name brand and generic drugs directly to consumers with no more than a 15% markup (a profit that will allow the company to be self-sustainable), MCCPDC brings to mind the Catholic concept of securing the common good.
“To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity....," Pope Benedict XVI once elaborated on the principles laid out in Matthew 25: 35-40, "The more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbours, the more effectively we love them. Every Christian is called to practise this charity, in a manner corresponding to his vocation and according to the degree of influence he wields in the [state]."
To see if your pharmaceutical needs are available at a reduced rate, visit: Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCPDC) where medications are listed in alphabetical order.
