Crossword Genius

Harsh treatment regimen given orally (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

coarse

'harsh' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'treatment regimen given orally' is the wordplay.
'treatment regimen' becomes 'course' (eg a course of medication).
'given orally' shows a homophone (sound like).
'course' is a homophone of 'COARSE'.

(Other definitions for coarse that I've seen before include "Rough, harsh" , "Rough to the touch or lacking refinement" , "Large-grained or rough to the touch" , "Rude, vulgar" , "Rude, base" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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