Cut to the Chase About Whether It’s Okay to Cut Patches
March 2025
Dangerous errors with transdermal patches are still occurring...often due to mistakenly cutting them.
It may be tempting to cut a patch in half...to provide a lower dose for smaller patients or to titrate a dose down. But in some cases, cutting a patch can be fatal.
Know which patches canNOT be cut. Most should NEVER be cut...since they release a constant amount of drug over time. Cutting may cause the drug to release too fast...which could lead to an overdose.
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