Key facts
- Lu Yong, the inspiration for the film "Dying to Survive," is reducing his medication for chronic myeloid leukemia.
- He hopes to stop treatment within three months.
- Lu Yong has taken 35,000 pills over two decades.
- The cost of treatment has significantly decreased due to insurance and generic drug availability.
Lu Yong, the real-life inspiration behind the 2018 Chinese film "Dying to Survive," has begun a process to stop taking medication for his chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). He has been on treatment for 24 years, consuming approximately 35,000 pills. Lu Yong previously gained attention for helping patients access affordable generic cancer drugs from India, a practice that led to his prosecution for selling "fake drugs."
The cost of life-saving medication has drastically decreased due to policy changes. In 2002, when Lu Yong was diagnosed, the imported drug Gleevec cost over 23,500 yuan per box, with no insurance coverage, leading to daily expenses of around 800 yuan. By 2017, Gleevec was included in China's national medical insurance catalog, with reimbursement rates exceeding 70%, reducing out-of-pocket costs to a few hundred yuan per month. Advances in domestic drug development have also introduced more effective third-generation medications.
Medical progress has transformed CML from a terminal illness into a manageable chronic condition. A recent study showed a 55% success rate for drug cessation in CML patients over two years. Lu Yong's fusion gene test came back negative on October 14, 2026, prompting him to halve his dosage the following day. If all continues to go well, he plans to officially stop treatment on January 14, 2027, fulfilling his dream of not relapsing and feeling reborn.