Max Doppelt: In January 2025 my mom’s lung cancer spread to her brain. The drug with the best chance of helping her was approved in China but not here.

A doctor told me, almost as an aside, that if she were Chinese she could buy it at a pharmacy.

So I flew to Shanghai and came home with 26 boxes in my luggage. That was 19 months ago. My mom is still here, still working, and in her words has had an amazing three years.

The drug was approved in China in 2023. The FDA approved it in July 2025. It still is not for sale here. I know of at least 30 Americans who have made the same trip.

I have been scared to tell this story because I worried it could cost my mom access to the medicine keeping her alive. But the problem matters more than my silence. These drugs need to be developed and available here, and that means FDA reform.

A piece at KFF Health cover’s Max’s story and adds this insanity:

Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, in June co-sponsored legislation with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) requiring all U.S. pharmaceutical deals with Chinese companies to be cleared by the Treasury Department.

Got that? A son flew to Shanghai to buy pharmaceuticals to extend his mother’s life and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wants a Treasury lawyer monitoring the baggage claim. Yes, I am angry.

Addendum: See also my earlier post on Operation TrialBlazer and Montana’s SB535. My 2009 TED Talk is the ur-source for my argument that a rich China and India will create many benefits for the United States, including many more cancer drugs.