Some 10 million people in the United States -- most of them women -- have been diagnosed with osteoporosis, and an estimated 4.7 million take oral bisphosphonates, according to a 2009 study in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacists.

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The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, which creates medication instructions used by the federal National Library of Medicine, cautions that it will be difficult to boil down instructions to a single page without compromising patient safety, says Gerald McEvoy, assistant vice president of the group.

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As a result, 12 states have moved to an electronic-tracking system that alerts pharmacists so they can stop people from buying more than the legal limit of pseudoephedrine.

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The researchers looked at the pharmacists records, the clinical notes and the electronic prescribing system, which should all have a record of any allergies.

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