Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reported withdrawal of the original formulation of Questran from the UK market on patients with bile acid malabsorption.

The Department is aware of the discontinuation of the original formulation of Questran (colestyramine 4g oral powder) sachets. Decisions to discontinue medicines are commercial decisions for manufacturers, and the Department does not have powers to require companies to continue to supply a product.

The supplier of Questran has confirmed that Questran sugar free sachets remain available and can be used to manage increased demand from the discontinuation of Questran sachets. As an alternative, generic colestyramine four-gram oral powder sachets also remain available from a different supplier. As such, patients with bile acid malabsorption should still be able to access alternative products despite the discontinuation of Questran.