I would recommend NOT doing this as a scalar function. Scalar functions are not good for performance. You can easily leverage the DelimitedSplit8K function for this.
select top 1 *
from dbo.DelimitedSplit8K('NYSTATIN SUSP 500000 UNIT = 5 ML (1 5 ML CUP)', ' ')
where Item not like '%[^0-9.]%'
select top 1 *
from dbo.DelimitedSplit8K('NYSTATIN SUSP 0.75 UNIT = 5 ML (1 5 ML CUP)', ' ')
where Item not like '%[^0-9.]%'
You can find the code the that function by following the link in my signature about splitting strings.
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Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/