The following is a list of events that led up to and ensued after what is arguably the single greatest medical fraud of the 21st century. Each fact is supported by a source or sources. The list is a work in progress, please feel free to add any information you deem relevant.

1955: In April 1955 the FDA approves hydroxychloroquine as a drug safe to use.

FDA

2005: On 22 August, 2005 a study published on NCBI, one of the most prestigious science journals in the world, confirms the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in the prophylactic and post-exposure therapy of coronavirus in a study entitled "Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread".

NCBI

They knew what the cure was before they released the virus. But that didn't stop them. They just had to take care of a few things first and manage the rest later, as you will see.

2017: In December 2017, less than 2 years before the release of covid, billionaire pharmaceutical company founders Honey and Barry Sherman, owners of Apotex (a manufacturer of hydroxychloroquine), are murdered in their home.

Forbes

2019: In November 2019 the Wuhan Coronavirus hits the world. From Wikipedia:

"A September 2020 review noted "The possibility that the COVID-19 infection had already spread to Europe at the end of last year is now indicated by abundant, even if partially circumstantial, evidence", including pneumonia case numbers and radiology in France and Italy in November and December.

RT-PCR (Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) testing of untreated wastewater samples from Brazil and Italy have suggested detection of SARS-CoV-2 as early as November and December 2019, respectively"

wikipedia

2020 May: On 22 May, in arguably the biggest medical fraud of the century, The Lancet, the world's most prestigious medical journal, publishes a study that claims that hydroxychloroquine is dangerous.

thelancet

As a response, hydroxychloroquine production stops, supplies get pulled from pharmacies and doctors around the world stop prescribing it to patients.

Following criticism from a large number of doctors questioning the authenticity of such a dubious study, The Lancet subsequently launches an investigation, and upon uncovering the fraud, RETRACTS the article from its website.

But the damage was done. The WHO had ordered countries to stop using it, and European Union countries had banned its use (outside clinical trials) for Covid-19 treatment. Clinical trials themselves, such as the NAID trial announced by the US National Institutes of Health on May 14, were cancelled. A hostile press frightened people from re-entering clinical trials that might have cleared it for use.

2020 April: The effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine is reaffirmed by a study conducted in Italy, one of the worst hit countries in the world. The findings:

"The Italian Society for Rheumatology studied 65,000 patients on long-term hydroxychloroquine for RA and Lupus.
Only 20 patients tested positive for COVID-19. No ICU, no deaths.
This is a 90% reduction in infection rate compared to the rest of Italy."

This is reported in an article titled "MEDIA LIED, PEOPLE DIED: Italian Study Finds INCREDIBLE Prophylaxis Results for Patients on Hydroxychloroquine"

thegatewaypundit

2020 July: On 27 July, at a press conference in front of the Supreme Court, members of a group called America’s Frontline Doctors, led by Simone Gold, MD, testify to hydroxychloroquine as a cheap cure for covid.

The video gets millions of hits within a few hours. It has since been taken down by youtube.

Donald Trump Jr tweets Dr Gold's video. As a result he gets a temporary ban from tweeting.

BBC

As a response, President Trump tweets to 84 million followers about the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine confirmed in a video by members of the group America’s Frontline Doctors. Trump's Twitter account has since been permanently suspended.

2020 December: 0n 20 December 2020, an unexplained explosion and fire destroy the world's second largest pharmaceutical factory producing precursors for hydroxychloroquine.

americanthinker

2021, January: On 18 January 2021, Simone Gold, MD, of America’s Frontline Doctors gets arrested after being charged for taking part in the 6 January attack on the Capitol. That's what happens to people who devote their lives to informing the public on cheap available cures for a disease for the treatment of which NO GROUP OF DOCTORS OR SCIENTISTS have been tasked with finding and testing existing medicines by any of the governments on the planet. The agenda from the very beginning was, for reasons unknown, to develop new and expensive treatment exclusively in the form of vaccines, allowing for the introduction of...

even though we have existing cures in the forms of not only hydroxychloroquine but also Nobel-winning medicines like...