Comments on: Health Care Hot Topic: Tablet Splitting

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:12:22 +0000

So is it ok or not to split Augmentin?

By: frescanese

frescanese — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 04:12:04 +0000

Flopotomist brings up a good point.

Another example: one of our patients with schizophrenia was discharged with a script requiring he take 3.5 tablets per day. For a syndrome with such inherent adherence problems, this seems like a dangerous practice.

Just a thought: does anyone know what percentage of patients actually take their prescribed meds? (I don’t know and it seems like too much work to pubmed it )

By: Flopotomist

Flopotomist — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 03:21:01 +0000

The problem not addressed here was the concern that patients with movement disorders, arthritis, or other challenges to the mechanics of the pill splitter may be forced into struggling with the device in order to get their dose.

The physician, and NOT some HMO or pharmacist should have the final say in whether or not the patient gets a 10mg tablet or a 20 mg tablet with instructions to split it.

By: FuturePharmD

FuturePharmD — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:17:34 +0000

I take levoxyl and it is more consistent if I don’t split it.

Interesting, education sounds like the key.

By: GregRph

GregRph — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 02:06:09 +0000

Generic Toprol xl 25mg. It is extended release and the tablet is scored.

By: Sarah M. Lawrence

Sarah M. Lawrence — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 21:58:19 +0000

Al,

That may be true but that defeats the purpose of the extended release dosage form. Once it’s split it becomes immediate release. And that may deliver a higher than optimal dose of medication to the patient immediately vs. over time as intended.

By: Al

Al — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 01:19:46 +0000

Technically, extended based products that are wax based are usually ok to split. You just have to know the underlying technology in the tab of interest

By: Anna, CPhT

Anna, CPhT — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 23:17:27 +0000

Sertraline?? Oh come on! I’m glad they did a study. If someone takes 49 mg instead of 50 mg, it won’t make a freaking bit of difference. Hell, if they take 40 one day and 60 another, I’ll bet the average patient wouldn’t even notice.

By: Sarah M. Lawrence

Sarah M. Lawrence — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:28:13 +0000

Caffeine is definitely a drug product. Anything with a protective coating should never be split, chewed or crushed. It’s important to be educated about these issues so we can educate patients.

By: AJ

AJ — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 06:13:13 +0000

This isn’t a “med” technically, but there was a paper in our schools newspaper about the dangers of “splitting” caffeine pills. The reason being that the protective coating of the pill is nullified and the contents are released too quickly then intended and could result in problems.