The very same prolific HN contributor

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=bookofjoe

I've used the el cheapo for a long time with no issues... Sounds like a life hackers version of "premature optimization is the root of all evil"

In my country this would get you few side-to-side head shakes followed by quiet whisper: "Americans..."

Why?

We've got to split a couple of pulls in quarters for the cat. One of them is super easy and works in a pill splitter, the other one doesn't break easily. The easiest way to accurately split it is with a cutting board and chef's knife.

Every uncoated pill that has a curved surface can be split by placing it on a hard surface and pressing down on opposite sides with your thumbs. The split is more accurate if it is pre-scored -- place the scoring/groove face up during the split. But even without the groove, it is rarely worse than a 55:45 split in my experience. And no, I have no idea why this story is on HN.

I don't understand what the use case for this is, would someone care to explain?

Children sometimes get prescribed medication that a pharmacy might only stock in an adult dose pill. If the pills are small, a pill cutter is a lot safer than splitting them with a knife.

Another application would be if a doctor recommends reducing the dose, but you still have a lot of the originally prescribed pills.

People who have to regularly take half a pill sometimes struggle with breaking the pill into clean halves, or don't like having to use a kitchen knife or whatever and clean it later.

I don't think I've ever seen half a pill be prescribed, I don't think that exists as a thing in my country. They'd just give you smaller pills?

In fact the opposite happens here, you end up with instructions like "Take ten", each of which has to be individually popped out of a blister pack.

Not every medication is manufactured in the precise doses required. To get to the right amount, a few common doses will be produced with score marks to allow easy(ish) division for a smaller amount. For example, one of my family members has needed a half-pill of thyroid medicine. Something like a 75mcg pill split in half to make it 37.5mcg.

It’s very common in Ukraine for example. I take 80mg Valsartan. The pharmacy on the way home maybe only has 160mg. Fine I’ll buy the 160mg and split it. I could keep looking and find a pharmacy with 80mg in stock or plan ahead and order online but splitting the pills is no big deal.

Another comment mentions Metformin. This is more of a hassle since I find the 1g tablets awkward to split with my pill splitter due to the size, and yet for some reason finding the 500mg version is rare for me.

breaking pills in half when you're 80 years old, and breaking 20 pills a week by hand bruises your palm.

I get prescribed Metformin. The local pharmacies only carry the 1000 mg size tablet. So doc prescribes the only available pill size and I cut them in half.

That's interesting it gets prescribed that way, what does the sticker say, "Take HALF tablet"?

Take 1/4 tablet every other day, WARNING: don't drink alchohol while taking this medicine.

Daphne (The Cat) Lastname.

I have a small dog (8 lbs.) that gets seizures. I have a prescription pill for her and the dose is 1/2 a pill three times a day.

It's common in dog medicines to split pills since dogs come in a wide variety of sizes and the dose is typically based on weight.

It's hard to break pills in half evenly even when they have a groove for that, and I've had some cases where I want to take half of a pill while the pill is tiny and hard and doesn't have a groove. Doing that with a kitchen knife is extremely annoying and potentially traumatic.

(That said, uh, I don't use a fancy 30$ metallic pill cutter, but a cheap plastic one with a V-shaped slot that holds the pill in place.)

$30 for a simple pill splitter ? Must be a affiliate deal or similar, the author does not deny this ...

He writes about it like it’s amazing that it still works. Meanwhile, I bought a no-name cheapo splitter for maybe $5 15 years ago that still works perfectly fine.

There could be a version of this where you clamp the pill to make sure the split is right in the middle. Just saying...

EDIT: Yeah, obviously there are dozens at 3 bucks on temu.

I've been wondering about an automated way to do this and also wondering why they don't make more half doses for some of these pills people need chopped up

WTF? This is on hacker news?