How to Split Atorvastatin Tablets

Tablet-splitting is common practice in the United States because prescription charges are not proportionately higher for higher-dose tablets. When a patient is prescribed a 40mg dose, for instance, in many cases it would be cheaper to buy 80mg tablets and split them in half. Atorvastatin is the generic name for the anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor, which is taken by millions of Americans. Some tablets are not suitable for splitting, but a 2007 study by the University of Michigan found there was a negligible down side to splitting Atorvastatin tablets.

Things You'll Need

• Atorvastatin tablets of twice your usual dose
• Tablet splitter

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Instructions

Splitting Atorvastatin Tablets

• 1

  Make sure you are happy about splitting your tablets. Atorvastatin are film-coated and unscored, which makes them harder to split than some other tablets. However, as the University of Michigan website points out, "They're ... good candidates for splitting because they linger in the body for a relatively long time, and because small day-to-day dose fluctuations that can happen when pills are split don't make a major difference in cholesterol levels."

  Splitting your tablets makes ordering your prescriptions slightly more complicated. If you are infirm, forgetful or have bad vision, it might be better to stick to ordering your tablets in the correct dose.

• 2

  Buy a tablet splitter. Atorvastatin tablets, which are unscored and oval-shaped, are too difficult to split accurately otherwise. Choose your tablet splitter carefully. John Creel, president of Apothecary Products, points out on the Drug Topics website that although different pill splitters might look the same, they do differ in quality. You need one with a hard steel blade that is not too short to cut through the whole tablet.

• 3

  Choose a hinged tablet cutter. Using a blade is difficult because Atorvastatin tablets are unscored.

• 4

  Place the tablet in the slot made for it in the cutter. The slot will hold the tablet in the appropriate position for it to be cut in half as accurately as possible. Push the lid closed. Open the tablet splitter again and remove the two halves of the tablet.