Healthcare Professionals

The prescription and administration of medicines is an essential aspect of patient care, but swallowing difficulties including clinical dysphagia can compromise a person’s ability to take solid medication and around 60% of people over the age of 60 have experienced difficulty swallowing tablets or capsules at some time [1]. However, swallowing problems can affect medicines adherence in any patient at any age and younger patients may also find tablets too difficult to swallow well into their teenage years.

The practice of crushing tablets or opening capsules to make the medication easier to swallow has become increasingly recognized as potentially hazardous. Medicine manipulation includes crushing tablets, opening capsules, dissolving/dispersing/suspending solid medicines not licensed or designed for use in this way. If the patient suffers harm as a result of unlicensed medicine manipulation, the prescriber and medication administrator (or person recommending the practice) could be judged legally liable.

Here you can find out more about swallowing difficulties, dysphagia, medication management of patients with swallowing problems, the use of unlicensed medicines and how to make medicines safer for children.