Paracetamol is widely available across pharmacies and its price has not been increased, the consumer authority said on Saturday. 

In a brief statement, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority said that it had investigated whether the price of Crescent Pharma paracetamol had spiked, following reports of price gouging. 

The investigation indicated no such behaviour and the product was widely available, the MCCAA said. 

"This paracetamol is widely available across pharmacies and at a price which has not seen any increases," the authority said. 

Nationalist Party MP Jason Azzopardi had shared a post with photos of the aforementioned paracetamol brand and wrote that “prices of basic pills have doubled in a week”. 

Azzopardi went on to note that the prices of basic foodstuffs was also “exploding”. 

In comments to TVM, Consumers’ Association head Benny Borg Bonello urged the government to step in to stop any such abuse. 

Economy Minister Silvio Schembri has said that the government will not tolerate price gouging on essential items and urged the public to report any abuse to the MCCAA by calling 23952000.