How, and when, is the problem over medicine prices going to be solved? Consumers keep reporting that they are finding the prices of a range of medicines much cheaper abroad than in Malta, even when taking account of transport and other charges that would naturally have to be added to the local retail prices. One consumer, for example, bought 30 fungal infection pills for €104 in Malta but found them at less than a third of the price in London. The situation is angering consumers no end. They feel they are getting a raw deal and think it is high time something concrete is done to check what they believe is rampant abuse in the sale of medicines.

Yet, this is only one side to the story, as, on their part, the importers have for long been locked in serious difficulties with the government over the delay in the payment for medicinal goods they supply to the Administration. They are owed in all about €20 million, an amount not to be sniffed at. Consumers rightly argue this does not justify the sale of medicines at prices that are higher than the average charged in other European countries. But is this statement correct? According to a representative of the importers, distributors and retailers, only a few products of the 2,500 to 3,000 now on sale in Malta are marked higher than the average.

The problem keeps spawning subsidiary ones, for, clearly, one would have to quantify the "few" first to assess the situation. On the basis of the widespread complaints made over prices, however, it is generally assumed that the "few" is far more than a number than can be counted on the fingers of both hands. The problem has been simmering for quite some time but it now seems that the government, concerned over the regular complaints made by consumers, plans to take the bull by the horns.

The government has now announced plans to turn a voluntary mechanism for the control of medicine prices, introduced in 2006, into a mandatory one unless an alternative system is found. The government has found it necessary to give the warning as, it argued, the voluntary mechanism had not produced the "desired results". This has infuriated the importers and retailers who are leaving no doubt as to where they stand over the issue. They say there is no way they would accept price control, with one other representative of retailers reportedly saying they would be prepared to withdraw the products affected by price control until forced pricing was removed.

It has been pointed out that the consumer agency planned to be set up would have the legal power to order a price change if, without justification, an importer refuses to voluntarily cut the price of a particular medicine found to be selling at a higher price than the EU average. This is tough language. Malta should not go back to any form of price control that the country had in times past. With the two sides now going public over their stands, the battle-lines have been drawn. Is there a way out of all this? There is, if the importers, distributors and retailers give the consumer a fair deal. If, as it has been admitted by one sector's representative, there are a few "cowboys", these ought to be told off in no uncertain terms. As The Times suggested only a short time ago, transgressors ought to be named and shamed.