BAD UK have received the following update from the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Services. Unfortunately availability of Questran and Questran Light continue to be affected.
Questran
Bristol-Myers Squibb divested the Questran range to Cheplapharm at the end of July 2019. Questran is out of stock with no further supplies expected before 2021.
Questran Light
Limited supplies of Questran Light from Cheplapharm (until at least February 2020) are currently available through Alliance Healthcare (stock allocated to branches every fortnight). Mylan have also recently launched a generic colestyramine light 4g sachet but that is out of stock until mid-December
Alternative medications:
Colesevelam
Cholestagel (colesevelam) 625mg tablets (Sanofi) – currently in stock.
Colestid
Colestid (colestipol) plain (Pfizer) – UK licensed product currently in stock.
Colestid (colestipol) Orange (Pfizer) – out of stock until mid-December
Things you can do to help your pharmacist obtain your bile binding medications:
plan ahead for ordering your regular prescription by ordering your repeat as soon as your GP practice allows (depending on the area you live in different CCGs there may be variations in number of days before your current prescription runs out (e.g. 7-14 days) and the frequency of ordering repeats (E.g. some area only allow repeats on a monthly basis others allow regular or scripting to be ordered on a 3 monthly basis)
submit your prescription immediately to your pharmacy and explain the shortage situation to them
if your pharmacist is not aware of the problem then share with them this link to the Specialist Pharmacy Services website for all latest updates / actions pharmacists and GP’s / Consultants need to consider / undertake.
https://www.sps.nhs.uk/articles/shortage-of-bile-acid-sequestrants/
We will continue to liaise with the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Services and update you with any updates we receive from them