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What do you do if your doctor prescribes a half a tablet of something or a quarter of a tablet? I'm Dr. Alan Greene and I want to tell you about pill cutters or tablet cutters. They're really inexpensive and you can pick one up at any drugstore. And it's an easy way to get an accurate cutting of a pill in half. There's a little triangle inside and all you do is slide the pill in there as far as it will go. Close the lid and it's cut in half. If you're going to cut it into quarters, take out one of those halves, turn it sideways, close the lid, and it's cut in quarters. Simple, quick, and easy. One thing to note though. If it's a time-release drug, that may throw off the time-release entirely. So check with your doctor before cutting any time-release tablet.

Review Date: 9/18/2011
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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