His Mother Has Alzheimer’s. He Came to Cuba for a Breakthrough Treatment
October 8, 2026
When Massachusetts-based musician and activist Ben Grosscup learned his mother had Alzheimer’s, he turned to Cuba for help.
He traveled to Havana to obtain NeuralCIM, a groundbreaking Cuban medication that has had remarkable results in slowing the progression of Alzheimer's.
The treatment was developed by Cuban scientist Dr. Teresita Rodríguez, whose work Belly of the Beast documented in Teresita’s Dream.
Grosscup has long opposed his government’s economic war on Cuba. But as intensified sanctions and an oil blockade limit the island’s ability to produce medicines like NeuralCIM, U.S. policy became more personal.
“The blockade is harming my own family,” he says.
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“The policy of the blockade is harming my own family…” said Ben Grosscup, U.S. musician and activist. “That is not something I ever considered until this year. My own mother. I mean… She can get this medication, she can improve, and she's not a severe Alzheimer's case… There's no way for Cuba to just meet the global demand for for Alzheimer's with its existing production capacity…
“This whole process is energy intensive. And there's an oil blockade right now. And that oil blockade limits what level of production can happen here…
“Cuba is making these medical achievements at the very same time that it is subjected to this kind of economic warfare…”
Grosscup said, “I came to Cuba to obtain NeuralCIM for my mom. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in June of this year.
“I was thinking to myself, ¨man, something something's different with my mom¨. So when she speaks, sometimes it's it's hard to follow what she's saying….
“Sometimes she has a thought and it just her mind goes blank and she can't get it back.
“If your mind goes blank and then you can't recover it this could be could be a sign of something. And she had those signs long before the blood test and the brain scan and like also the neurological exam.
“She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in June of this year.
“I did some searches on the internet for Neural CIM…
“NeuralCIM is a new medication that has shown incredible promise to reverse symptoms of Alzheimer's…
Grosscup said, “The process of accessing medical care here in Cuba is that every staff person I've interacted with here in Cuba has been universally kind, considerate, competent, and very concerned about my well-being.
“That goes both for the staff at La Pradera Clinic, but also other doctors I've met here who are not working with NeuralCIM. But just like people who I've interacted with in Cuba, some of the most caring people I've met, really.
“My family is very hopeful about the possibility of avoiding a more serious deterioration… of my mother's cognition by using this medication.”
He said, “The United States uses economic policy to try to really harm any country that is against its interests and doesn't care what impact that has on the people….
“I'm a musician, I'm a songwriter, and I write songs that are really dealing with the threat of imperialism to the whole world…
“I sing at many different movement events in the United States where people are building consciousness to, to confront the ways in which our country of the United States imposes its will on other countries, to economic sanctions and war throughout the world.”
Grosscup added, “I've always looked at it as a solidarity activist, but this is an instance where it's so incredibly clear that the policy of the blockade is harming my own family.
“That is not something I ever considered until this year. My own mother. I mean, yes, on the one hand, it's actually a very promising situation for my mom. She can get this medication, she can improve, and she's not a severe Alzheimer's case. That's the other thing. So… future looks very good for her. As long as I'm not stopped at US customs.”
He said, “Since I've been in Cuba. Part of the story here is not just about my mother and about her health condition and about the advances of Cuban science, which are incredible.
“Part of the story here is that all of this work is happening in the context of a brutal economic war that's happening in Cuba, and it's incredible that Cuba is making these medical achievements at the very same time that it is subjected to this kind of economic warfare.
“But Cuba is limited in what it can produce because this whole process is energy intensive. And there's an oil blockade right now. And that oil blockade limits what level of production can happen here. And there are many parts involved in this kind of production process…
“Clearly,there's no way for Cuba to just meet the global demand for for Alzheimer's with its existing production capacity.”
Grosscup said, “you know, we don't know what this government will do, we never know, because that's that's the problem of having a tyrannical government that is attacking the rights of all of its citizens.
“Cuba should continue doing what it's doing. And I think people in the United States need to figure out whatever we need to do to tell our people. Hey, there's a solution in Cuba.
“Let's build a bridge. Let's build a bridge with Cuba, and let's help our our loved ones get better. But while we're doing it, let's fight for a change. Let's fight for a change in the policy of our government, which is making this so difficult for families to do because it's not enough just to help my mom. Totally not enough.”
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