TGA Secretary, John Skerritt amended the Poisons Standard to restrict hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) on the basis of “creating demand shortages” and to restrict its use because of “risk of significant adverse effects”.
HCQ is a historically safe, now off-patent, cheap medication, which has proven to be an effective tool for early treatment for COVID-19. [1, 2]
Since this time, global clinical trial conducted with HCQ for COVID-19 have used “lethal doses” of HCQ, timed in late stage illness and only in hospitalised patients compared to the timing, dose and combination with zinc, used successfully by frontline doctors globally. Alarmingly, health officials have not replicated the successful treatment protocols using HCQ.
The pursuit of a novel COVID-19 vaccine to solve the COVID-19 “health crisis” could NOT be financially justified or allowed to be provisionally registered in record time, if an already registered product and proven treatment protocol was available.