It also might be seen as financially punishing a person for getting sicker, says Schulman.It also has to do with production expenses. "With some drugs, the biggest cost is not the active ingredient, but making the pill itself," says Rich Sagall, president and co-founder of NeedyMeds, a Philadelphia nonprofit that provides information about financial assistance for drugs. Many medicines, because of their ingredients or design, cannot be split safely.Splitting the wrong sort of pills isn't the only risk. Do not drink large amounts of alcohol with atorvastatin. Don't try splitting a pill by pushing it against the edge of the counter, or hacking at it with a kitchen knife. Dosing Thirty patients aged 50 years or older, half of whom received instruction and a demonstration, evaluated 2 tablet-splitters with different blade positions and types of guide. We disclaim all responsibility for the professional qualifications and licensing of, and services provided by, any physician or other health providers posting on or otherwise referred to on this Site and/or any Third Party Site. By using this Site you agree to the following I was and still am on all the usual pills ..Breif list. Follow up on an earlier question: Finally, the PF people at Pfizer told me that while the firm recommends that the Lipitor pills NOT be broken in half or cut in half, they do say that it is perfectly okay to do this under doctor's prescription or recommendation, and that there is no negative downside at all to cutting Lippy in half. Tell your doctor if you regularly drink grapefruit juice. ... such as Omeprazole (prilosec) or Lansoprazole (prevacid) or zegerid can be taken over-the-counter for gerd. Why would a drug that's twice as powerful as another cost the same? I break the pills in half by hand, and they are easy to break. Pill splitting can help save almost 50% of the cost of some prescription drugs.Well, it's not quite that simple. Regardless of potency, the price of a specific pill is more or less equal.Part of the reasoning is that it protects patients from price jumps if they start to need a higher dose of a medicine. Another danger lies with the person who's splitting them: what if he or she isn't doing it correctly?Because of the potential problems, some experts recommend that patients should not split pills themselves. Sometimes one half will be a bit bigger than the other. "And that cost is pretty much the same no matter how much of the active ingredient is used. Never disregard the medical advice of your physician or health professional, or delay in seeking such advice, because of something you read on this Site. One insurer, UnitedHealth Group, says that members can save up to $300 per year using its pill-splitting program.While there's no doubt pill splitting can save money on prescription drugs, you need to consider whether it's worth it for you. Wow! Instead, they say, the pill splitting should be done by a pharmacist.However, some proponents of pill splitting find these precautions excessive. Dr. Stuart Hickerson answered. can you cut in half or crush pepcid ac 20mg if you have trouble swallowing pills? As always, the key is to talk to your doctor and go over the pros and cons. "So here's the lowdown: when pill splitting makes sense and when it doesn't.First, you might want an answer to the obvious question: how could this be? Experts say that you shouldn't split pills on your own if you have:It might not surprise you that some of the most enthusiastic supporters of pill splitting have been HMOs anxious to cut costs. 5 One device (Apex Pill Splitter) produced more accurate results by 10% to 20% (P value not provided) with metoprolol, warfarin, and lisinopril tablets. It's a marketing strategy sometimes used by pharmaceutical companies called "flat pricing." But because of a quirk of how some drugs are priced, a tablet that's twice as strong as another may not be twice the price. Drinking large amounts of grapefruit juice (more than 1.2 liters each day) while you take this medicine may increase your risk of muscle injury and could result in kidney problems. In 2006, the University of Michigan started a pill-splitting program. I hadn?t heard this about cutting the pills in half. I take 300 daily and take one pill in AM with food (can?t take it on an empty stomach! 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