ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite news that Novartis Consumer Health Inc. will resume shipments of Excedrin soon, bottles and packets of Excedrin are still selling for around $1 per pill on eBay.
"As a migraine sufferer when you find something that works, you are going to really glom on to that because you really want to get rid of that pain," said Dennis Pustinger, a pharmacist and Walgreens pharmacy manager.
He cautioned against the purchase of any medication on auction sites. Pustinger recommends a generic version of Excedrin to customers that come in asking for the product.
"It has aspirin in it, it has acetaminophen in it and it also has some caffeine in it, because caffeine has been proven to be beneficial for certain types of migraine headaches," said Pustinger about the makeup of Excedrin and its generic counterparts.
He said the percentages for each ingredient are the same in both the generic and the name brand drug.
Walgreens, Walmart and CVS all make and sell generic versions of Excedrin, which is available for as low as 94 cents a bottle.
The makers of Excedrin, Novartis Consumer Health Inc., announced late last week that they have begun production of Excedrin again at their plant in Nebraska.
"Upon successful validation, we expect to begin shipping a limited portfolio of products from Lincoln in the fourth quarter. In addition, we have engaged third-party manufacturers to bolster supply of select products, which will help meet demands of our customers and consumers. These third-party manufacturers have already started production, and shipment of products is expected to begin in the fourth quarter," said Julie Masow, director of external communications and media relations for Novartis.
Novartis voluntarily recalled Excedrin, along with other over-the-counter medications, in January because there was a fear that the products may contain stray and broken tablets.
The recall included all lots of select bottle sizes of Excedrin and NoDoz products with expiry dates of Dec. 20, 2014, or earlier, as well as Bufferin and Gas-X Prevention products with expiry dates of Dec. 20, 2013, or earlier in the United States.
Masow said in an email that employees have been working on maintenance and improvements at the plant for the last several months.