title: Authors' response to the letter from Kalleian Eserian et al.
abstract: This letter is a response to the comments of Kalleian Eserian et al. on our study relating to the accuracy, precision and sustainability of six tablet splitters and a kitchen knife as an alternative to breaking paracetamol 500mg tablets by hand. We would like to inform the readers of International Journal of Pharmaceutics that our study focused on splitting tablets with a mechanical tool rather than breaking tablets by hand. Although publications on hand breaking tablets were not cited for this reason, we are familiar with the conclusions of these publications. This is especially true for the publications that were written by direct colleagues from the department of the corresponding author e.g., Van Santen et al. and Van der Steen et al.
authors.affiliation: Medicines Evaluation Board, Department of Chemical Pharmaceutical Assessments (van Riet-Nales/Doeve/Nicia) resp. Pharmacotherapeutic Group 3 (Teerenstra) resp. Scientific Board (Hekster), Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: da.v.riet@cbg-meb.nl.
authors.forename: Diana A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: van Riet-Nales
authors.affiliation: Medicines Evaluation Board, Department of Chemical Pharmaceutical Assessments (van Riet-Nales/Doeve/Nicia) resp. Pharmacotherapeutic Group 3 (Teerenstra) resp. Scientific Board (Hekster), Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Myrthe E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Doeve
authors.affiliation: Medicines Evaluation Board, Department of Chemical Pharmaceutical Assessments (van Riet-Nales/Doeve/Nicia) resp. Pharmacotherapeutic Group 3 (Teerenstra) resp. Scientific Board (Hekster), Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Agnes E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Nicia
authors.affiliation: Medicines Evaluation Board, Department of Chemical Pharmaceutical Assessments (van Riet-Nales/Doeve/Nicia) resp. Pharmacotherapeutic Group 3 (Teerenstra) resp. Scientific Board (Hekster), Utrecht, The Netherlands; Radboud University Medical Centre, Department of Health Evidence (Teerenstra) resp. Department of Clinical Pharmacy (Hekster, van den Bemt), Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Teerenstra
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Centre for Health Protection (GZB), Department of Public Health Effects, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Notenboom
authors.affiliation: Medicines Evaluation Board, Department of Chemical Pharmaceutical Assessments (van Riet-Nales/Doeve/Nicia) resp. Pharmacotherapeutic Group 3 (Teerenstra) resp. Scientific Board (Hekster), Utrecht, The Netherlands; Radboud University Medical Centre, Department of Health Evidence (Teerenstra) resp. Department of Clinical Pharmacy (Hekster, van den Bemt), Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Yechiel A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Hekster
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Centre, Department of Health Evidence (Teerenstra) resp. Department of Clinical Pharmacy (Hekster, van den Bemt), Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Sint Maartenskliniek, Department of Pharmacy, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bart J F
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: van den Bemt
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen; D003297:Cooking and Eating Utensils; D006801:Humans; D013607:Tablets
chemical_list: D013607:Tablets; D000082:Acetaminophen
keywords: Break mark; Medication; Pharmaceutical development; Tablet splitting; Weight uniformity