By examining the manipulation of hydroxychloroquine during the covid era to attain a political end, this article seeks to illustrate the destructive forces brought to bear on how medicine was practised in Australia, with shameless disregard for the health and survival of patients, or for the integrity of those charged to care for their well-being.

The Curious Case of Hydroxychloroquine

This essay appears in the March 2024 issue of the Australian online magazine Quadrant. Click HERE to subscribe.

By Professor Robert Clancy

The discipline of medicine has changed. Its traditional cohesion and leadership have fractured into a multitude of disconnected specialty groups, allowing powerful commercial and political forces to increase control over both structure and function of medical practice. The covid era burst through boundaries long taken for granted.

By examining the manipulation of hydroxychloroquine to attain a political end, this article seeks to illustrate the destructive forces brought to bear on how medicine was practised in Australia, with shameless disregard for the health and survival of patients, or for the integrity of those charged to care for their well-being.

I have practised as a physician in Australia for half a century. I recall when we knew (and revered) the name of the President of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, while living in fear of their Chief Examiner as we sought qualification! They were great men and women and were the exemplars for ethical practice. They were the leaders and role models, providing evidence-based standards of medical practice. Today they only occasionally question imperfect narratives or challenge the ethics of prevailing medical practice, risking being part of the problem rather than a solution, creating a hiatus.