My pharmacist cut my pills in half

LegacyUser

Hi,

My pharmacist just gave me my pills cut in half. I'm a little touchy about things like that, and am concerned about how she cut them, if she touched them, if there might be dust from other pills she had cut (if she used a pill cutter) in the pill cutter that may still be on my pills.

Yes, I know it sounds a little funny, but I'm a little funny about it and that's just the way it is. If I go explain the whole situation to my doc then the whole process will cost me €60 or so. But perhaps people could tell me this, is it common practice for pharmacists to do this unasked?

Regards,
Slight nervous about people touching my pills.

locum-motion

Guest 101 wrote: »

Hi,

My pharmacist just gave me my pills cut in half. I'm a little touchy about things like that, and am concerned about how she cut them, if she touched them, if there might be dust from other pills she had cut (if she used a pill cutter) in the pill cutter that may still be on my pills.

Yes, I know it sounds a little funny, but I'm a little funny about it and that's just the way it is. If I go explain the whole situation to my doc then the whole process will cost me €60 or so. But perhaps people could tell me this, is it common practice for pharmacists to do this unasked?

Regards,
Slight nervous about people touching my pills.

Yes, absolutely common practice, and nothing to worry about.
I do it for a few reasons;
1. to be helpful
2. because (depending on the tablet) it can sometimes be quite tricky to do it accurately if you haven't got the technique right
3. to save the customer the fiver or so they'd have to spend to buy their own pill cutter
etc.

If you're that worried about it, just ask your pharmacist not to next time, and buy a splitter.

lucernarian

Guest 101 wrote: »

Hi,

My pharmacist just gave me my pills cut in half. I'm a little touchy about things like that, and am concerned about how she cut them, if she touched them, if there might be dust from other pills she had cut (if she used a pill cutter) in the pill cutter that may still be on my pills.

Yes, I know it sounds a little funny, but I'm a little funny about it and that's just the way it is. If I go explain the whole situation to my doc then the whole process will cost me €60 or so. But perhaps people could tell me this, is it common practice for pharmacists to do this unasked?

Regards,
Slight nervous about people touching my pills.

That sounds unfortunate. To be so anxious over a pill being cut in half by a professional must be somewhat debilitating if you have other issues like this. In my experience, I just get the pills unsplit by default. The tablets are scored though, so I can split them by simply snapping them in half. Perfectly fine in my own situation, but your medication will look different I expect.

anotherlostie

If you are worried about dust, I hope you don't get any of your tablets counted using the pharmacy tablet counter.

madliz

i did this with some of mine the other week. my doctor upped one of my tablets, but the chemist didn't have the tablet in stock, so he suggested i just half some of my tablets myself. i did so to get me through the next week, as we were going away, and i did this with a sharp knife and they cut okay.

locum-motion

madliz wrote: »

i did this with some of mine the other week. my doctor upped one of my tablets, but the chemist didn't have the tablet in stock, so he suggested i just half some of my tablets myself. i did so to get me through the next week, as we were going away, and i did this with a sharp knife and they cut okay.

Some tablets will split easily like yours, some won't. As I said above, it depends on the tablet.

taram

You could roll them gently in some kitchen paper to remove any dust if you still have fears.

Nonoperational

If you don't want them cut just ask. If it really bothers you you could try going back but there is nothing to worry about.