The Purity of Cholestyramine Resin-Reply

In Reply.—  Please allow us to set the facts straight. Warner-Lambert has never marketed any Cholybar with contaminated resin. In fact, all Cholybar now marketed is made with resin supplied by Purolite, not Rohm & Haas. Dr Goldstein probably was unaware that the contaminated Rohm & Haas cholestyramine resin was detected months before Warner-Lambert's Cholybar was launched.Warner-Lambert uses intensive quality assurance testing to safeguard consumers from impure ingredients and their potentially hazardous effects.Dr Goldstein wonders about carcinogenesis in humans, citing the package insert, but we believe he has unfairly extrapolated from animal test results. A further reading of the insert for cholestyramine resin states, "The relevance of this laboratory observation from studies in rats to the clinical use of cholestyramine resin is not known."What is clear is that cholestyramine resin therapy has helped patients achieve substantial reductions in total cholesterol levels and in the risk of coronary