Clive Palmer’s hydroxychloroquine doses ‘unlikely ever to be used’
They were imported under a special exemption to help the country's COVID-19 response
The millions of hydroxychloroquine doses donated to the National Medical Stockpile by Clive Palmer are unlikely ever to be used in Australia.
The mining magnate and former politician offered to donate 32 million doses of the drug last year to help the country’s COVID-19 response, after it was dubbed a potential “game-changer” by Donald Trump, among others.
Eventually, 22 million made it to the national stockpile, according to media reports.
But 18 months on, the federal Department of Health says it is yet to deploy a single dose because the drug has not been approved by the TGA as a COVID-19 treatment and there have been no requests to use them in a clinical trial.
