Excerpt from The Guardian
The ad quoted the leader of a clinical trial, Prof David Paterson, saying it was not a stretch to describe the drug as a cure. Drug advertising rules state any therapeutic claim made in relation to novel coronavirus must be supported by appropriate evidence and must not mislead.
Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, has dropped its investigation into newspaper advertisements taken out by the former federal politician Clive Palmer that described a drug unproven in the treatment of Covid-19 as a “cure”.
In March, the TGA confirmed it was looking into Palmer’s two-page ad in the Australian and on Facebook that stated the drug, hydroxychloroquine, when combined with another medication could “wipe out the virus in test tubes”. The ad also quoted the leader of a clinical trial, Prof David Paterson, saying it was not a stretch to describe the drug as a cure. Drug advertising rules state any therapeutic claim made in relation to novel coronavirus must be supported by appropriate evidence and must not mislead.
The ad said Palmer had agreed to personally fund the acquisition or manufacture of 1m doses “to ensure all Australians would have access to the drug as soon as possible”. On Tuesday, Palmer paid for another series of ads in News Corp papers stating he had since bought 32.9m doses of the drug. The federal government confirmed Palmer has a “written arrangement” with the government to acquire the drug for the national medical stockpile.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said neither the latest ads nor the previous ones were being investigated. “Assessment of Mr Clive Palmer’s advertisements have been concluded and enforcement action is not warranted,” a TGA spokesman said. “The information was assessed as not intended to promote the sale of the product.”
On 16 March, Paterson had appeared on The Project. When asked by Waleed Aly if it was correct to describe the drug as a “cure” rather than just a treatment, Paterson responded: “Absolutely.”
See the original article here: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/28/clive-palmer-ad-for-coronavirus-cure-cleared-by-australian-drug-regulator
Foot note: See some examples of studies and treatments that include hydroxychloroquine, that have considerable success.
Washington Examiner: Agilum analysis – greatest-number-of-survivors-from-hydroxychloroquine-healthcare-analytics-could-provide-a-blueprint-for-coronavirus-treatments/
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