Pill splitting

The USP standard for dosage uniformity expresses statistical criteria in the complex language of sampling protocols.

"Dosage unit" is a technical term which covers oral medications (tablets, pills, capsules), as well as non-oral delivery methods.

[5] A 2002 study of pill-splitting as conducted in four American long-term care facilities determined that 15 of the 22 dispensed prescriptions evaluated (68%) had fragment weight variance in excess of USP standards.

[7] Randall Stafford of the Stanford School of Medicine published a study in 2002 of common prescription medications in the United States in which he evaluates pill splitting for "potential cost savings and clinical appropriateness".

The worst result reported was Oretic 25 mg in which 60% of tablets failed to split to within 15% of target weight.

[citation needed] One example is Minoxidil, which is well known as a hair-growth stimulant; the same drug under the name Loniten is used for blood pressure control in much larger doses at a much lower price per unit weight.

[citation needed] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has called pill splitting "risky".

[11] In a California court filing dated April 2001, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) brought a class-action lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente (Timmis v. Kaiser Permanente) on the grounds that "Kaiser's mandatory pill-splitting policy endangers patients' health solely to enhance the HMO's profits" in violation of the California Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA).