I checked in with Thomas - He’s not a spammer (as many of us initially thought), just a guy interested in helping get rapamycin at a lower cost. As most of us here probably know, CostPlustDrugs is the new Mark Cuban company that is selling prescription drugs at much lower costs, and unfortunately rapamycin (sirolimus) is not yet on their list. I suspect, sadly, that given the small numbers of people using rapamycin (either in organ transplants, cancer, or longevity) is so small that its a low priority for them.
My BCBS is somehow paying for half of my prescribed rapamycin through amazon pharmacy even though I don’t have a qualifying condition. 120.00 is now 60.00
Only drug manufacturers with FDA approval to sell drugs in USA have the right to import drugs from another manufacturer and resell them as their own generic or branded drug, subject to FDA inspection of their foreign manufacturer.
So I highly doubt Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus can just buy anything they want from India, for example, and resell it in USA. They have to find an FDA approved drug manufacturer and try to negotiate a good deal.
I’m posting in June 2023.
My MD is Landrey Fagan MD in Boulder CO. She’s one of two in CO listed on this website.
She recommended CostPlusDrugs.com - $165 for 90 1mg, or $1.83 per mg.
I considered buying outside of USA, and it’s not a good idea for me. YMMV.
Using an Indian pharmacy 15 years ago I ordered valium. It worked a couple times, but the final time it wasn’t valium - possibly ketamine - I’ll never know. I live in a rural community and we have Volunteer Fire & Medical first responders. The embarassment of dialing 911 and having my friends and neigbors come over to get me to the ER was a chance for them to poke fun at me for as long as I live. And honestly, I might not have lived.
The upside to India is no Rx needed. I guess my point is that in the 6mg dose category, $12/week vs $6/week is financially negligible for me. But a US pharmacy - very important!
Why?
Traceable provenance
The ability to sue in the US if it’s bad sauce keeps 'em on their toes.
Not worrying about long shipping times
Not worrying about customs seizures
If I were using more, or for years I might look for another pharmacy, but as obnoxious as Mark Cuban is, this one will do. Oh - it’s significanly cheaper than Amazon.
India is primarily for those who cannot find a doctor to prescribe Rapamycin to them or to lower the cost. But as you said, Costplusdrugs is pretty inexpensive! If I had a prescription in the US, I’d use Costplusdrugs or a similar pharmacy.
That’s Mark Cuban’s co so it is probably the real deal. He is starting a Costco version of pharmacy, good on him.
“Every product we sell is priced exactly the same way: our cost plus 15%, plus the pharmacy fee, if any. When you get your medicine from Cost Plus Drug Co., you’ll always know exactly how we arrived at the price you pay. And as we grow and our costs go down, we will always pass those savings on to you!”
I’d love to use costplusdrugs, but my doctor refuses to work with them, so that’s pretty frustrating. The catch for me is costplusdrugs requires your physician to sign up with them and transmit the prescription directly to them. So my paper scripts are useless in this context. Same with Amazon Pharmacy. I guess I’ll just be thankful I have any prescription at all.
I bought my first Sirolimus from CostPlusDrugs. The pills look different than the Sirolimus I had been obtaining from India. The CostPlus pills are tiny & round, white without any visible coating. Since they look “cheaper,” I’m wondering what corners have been cut in order to get the price down. Is it real? Does anybody else have this concern?
If its being sold in the US by CostPlusDrugs it has to have FDA approval so I think its likely fine. If you are at all concerned, you can easily do a blood sirolimus test an hour or two after taking the tablets to see your sirolimus levels: How to get a Rapamycin (sirolimus) Blood Level Test
