The prices of 62 medicines may have been cut after the government intervened but in at least four instances the "high" price had been fixed by the authorities three years ago when the last revision took place.

An exercise undertaken by The Times comparing the most recent price reductions with those undertaken between September 2007 and January 2008 showed that 10 medicines deemed overpriced in 2007 reappeared on the list three years later.

The high price of four of these medicines - Adalat 10mg x 90, Lipitor 20mg x 28, Engerix B and Zocor 10mg x 28 - had been fixed by the government in 2007, remaining unchanged for three years, only to be reduced again in the latest exercise.

Another six medicines - Adalat LA 30, Zovirax 800mg x 35 and four different Locoid creams and lotions - had been listed as being overpriced in 2007 but no announcement was ever made on by how much their price was being reduced. This time round they made it to the published list where the "new" lower price sits side by side with the "old" high price.

The 62 products are only part of a much bigger list of overpriced medicines identified by the Consumer and Competition Division.

A spokesman for the Consumer Affairs Parliamentary Secretariat said an exercise carried out between January and April by the division had found there were 150 medicines whose prices were above the EU average.

"The published list of 62 medicines was taken from the longer list of 150 medicines and the government is adamant to get importers to reduce the prices of these medicines and others as well," the spokesman said, insisting another list of lower-priced medicines will be published "shortly".

He also confirmed that the mechanism introduced in 2007 to establish the average price of medicines in the EU and recommend lower prices for products found to be above the average was still being used today.

The mechanism was on a voluntary basis and importers were not bound to abide by the lower prices and, in some cases, the spokesman added, these were ignored.

"This time round if the desired results are not achieved, the government will explore all possibilities including making this mechanism mandatory as announced in the Budget speech 2010," he said, pointing out that discussions between the parties involved were ongoing.

The 2007 mechanism had been agreed upon by the government, pharmaceutical manufacturers and medicines importers.

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