Can Muvera 15mg (Meloxicam) Tablets Be Split in Half?
No, splitting meloxicam 15 mg tablets to achieve a 7.5 mg dose is not recommended due to significant concerns about dose accuracy and weight uniformity, particularly for this specific medication.
Evidence Against Splitting Meloxicam Tablets
Poor Weight and Content Uniformity
- Meloxicam specifically failed both weight and content uniformity testing when split, with more than 10% of half tablets falling outside acceptable specifications in controlled studies 1.
- In a systematic analysis of 16 commonly split medications, meloxicam was among the drugs that showed unacceptable variation in drug content after splitting, meaning you cannot reliably achieve a 7.5 mg dose by cutting a 15 mg tablet 1.
Clinical Implications of Dose Variability
- Meloxicam has a narrow therapeutic window as a COX-2 selective NSAID, where the standard dosing is precisely 7.5 mg daily (increased to maximum 15 mg if necessary, with 7.5 mg maximum for elderly patients) 2.
- The drug is more than 99.5% protein-bound with a 20-hour elimination half-life, meaning inconsistent dosing from split tablets could lead to either subtherapeutic effects or increased risk of serious gastrointestinal adverse events including ulceration and bleeding 2, 3.
Safer Alternative Approach
Obtain the Correct Tablet Strength
- Request a prescription for meloxicam 7.5 mg tablets instead of attempting to split 15 mg tablets 2.
- Meloxicam is manufactured in both 7.5 mg and 15 mg strengths specifically to provide accurate dosing without the need for tablet splitting 2.
Why Manufacturer Provides Multiple Strengths
- Similar to finerenone (Kerendia), which is supplied in 10 mg and 20 mg tablets specifically engineered to eliminate any clinical need for tablet splitting, meloxicam's availability in 7.5 mg strength reflects deliberate design to avoid splitting-related dosing errors 4.
General Tablet Splitting Considerations
While some medications can be safely split (such as phentermine, where half tablets of 18.75 mg are explicitly mentioned as adequate dosing options) 5, meloxicam does not fall into this category based on experimental evidence 1.
When Tablet Splitting May Be Acceptable
- Medications with wide therapeutic indices and long half-lives are more suitable candidates for division 1.
- Tablets must pass weight and content uniformity specifications (90-110% of target dose) 1.
- Patients must have physical capability to split tablets accurately 6.
The safest approach is to obtain meloxicam 7.5 mg tablets from your pharmacy rather than splitting 15 mg tablets, as this ensures accurate dosing and minimizes risk of NSAID-related adverse events.