Medical experts caution that the score line isn’t just a cutting guide; it's an indicator that the medicine has been designed to be safely divided.
Published Aug 23, 2025 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 23, 2025 | 9:36 AM
Tablets. (iStock)
Synopsis: Doctors warn that unless a pill has a score line, splotting them can be risky — even leading to dangerous overdoses or making the medication ineffective.
Do you split your tablets to make them easier to swallow or to reduce the dose for your child? Doctors warn that unless the pill has a score line, this common practice can be risky — even leading to dangerous overdoses or making the medication ineffective.
Many people have, at some point, broken a tablet in half — prescribed by a doctor, out of fear of side effects, or simply because the pill looked too large to swallow.
However, medical experts caution that the score line isn’t just a cutting guide; it’s an indicator that the medicine has been designed to be safely divided.
“Breaking a controlled-release tablet is like squeezing a sponge in one go instead of letting it slowly release water drop by drop. The entire drug gets dumped into the bloodstream at once, leading to dangerously high levels,” explained Dr Rakesh Garg, a physician, in a LinkedIn post that has gone viral.
Tablets that are film-coated, enteric-coated, controlled-release (CR), extended release (ER/XR/XL), sustained release (SR), long-acting (LA), or orally disintegrating are never meant to be cut in half. These medicines usually do not carry a score line.
Speaking to South First, Dr Sudhir Kumar, a renowned neurologist from Apollo Hospitals in Telangana, cautions people about splitting the tablets. He said, “When such tablets are broken, their slow-release or protective coatings are destroyed.”
According to him, that can cause:
Overdose: Dangerously high drug levels in the blood in one go
Ineffectiveness: The drug is destroyed by stomach acid before reaching the target site.
Side effects: Irritation of the stomach or the intestines.
“I really wish such medicines came with a bold warning, not just a scoring line: ‘Do not split, chew or crush’. Doing this can literally save millions of unaware patients from accidental high-dose toxicity or adverse drug reactions,” Dr Garg added.
Dr Sudhir said the practice is most often seen with painkillers and sometimes antibiotics, which are widely used by adults.
“For children, parents often break tablets in half, fearing side effects. Adults also do it when they think a small dose is enough. But unless prescribed by a doctor, it is not safe,” he said.
A tablet can be split,
Tablets should not be split,
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
