As someone who is familiar with the special access scheme and...

As someone who is familiar with the special access scheme and who is also a legally recognised medical decision maker I have to disagree with your assessment here. It is possible to utilise special access treatments and drugs that are currently not approved in extenuating circumstances with the support of a medical doctor and if the case is needed also a referring specialist or consultant in that area.

As I wrote above my dad has been put on a drug that currently has a critical shortage in Australia and this will be the case until at least end of September. As I also wrote if he runs out of medication prior to the supply being restored it is possible for his doctor to request special access to a replacement drug ....currently unapproved in Australia....as my dad also has a pre existing known condition and there are results available that show he indeed has this condition ...some conditions require regular monitoring so there is always proof available as to the genuine need for the treatment. I have to have a meeting with his doctor two weeks before his medication runs out ....that is to ensure any approval comes through in time and that he is not without medication critical to his survival.

It is even possible to access drugs currently unavailable in Australia from overseas using the same process. This I know as in the past i've done the very same thing for a particular medication that was imported from the UK by her doctor for my mother. I paid for the medication in the UK however it was requested by her Australia doctor to UK pharmacy and sent direct to him with full permission for its importation granted....he had the responsibility of receiving it and dispensing it to her. He did this because no other drug was working as well for her and he could show that through her results.

So please do not insinuate that it would not be possible to access unapproved treatments or drugs for compassionate reasons only through a full trial....it's not easy but yes it's very possible with the full support of your medical professionals and with the proof that this is warranted ....

Whilst I respect your right to be sceptical I do think perhaps you should research more how the special access scheme works and how a medical decision maker working in conjunction with medical professionals can access treatment or drugs on compassionate grounds ....you'd be amazed just how quickly things can move in an emergency ....especially if there is are existing medical decision maker and power of attorney documents in place....that gives the docs the ability to move fast in an emergency.....It is not remotely implausible to me that the sister could have the authority even as a next of kin without any medical decision maker or power of attorney to make that call on the behalf of her brother and to request the doctor to look at something new even if unapproved .... you have clearly never been in that situation and I sincerely hope you never are ....and I do mean that sincerely. The whole reason such things as medical decision makers and medical power of attorneys have been put in place is to make that whole process easier in an emergency situation and to firmly and legally establish who has the right to make that call when the patient is no longer able to for themselves.....every doc I've dealt with nowadays asks if there is such a document in place and has copies of those documents on file.

Cheers