While Food and Drug Administration inspectors who make sure food and drugs meet quality standards were spared in recent cuts, key support staffers were dismissed.

Bayer is adding two of its name-brand drugs to the roster of Cost Plus Drugs: the birth control pill Yaz and the menopause treatment Climara.

Hospitals rely on scores of generic drugs given by injection. But these workhorses are often in short supply. Cheap prices have led to factory closures that leave the supply chain vulnerable.

Pharmacists struggle to find key medicines and now have to anticipate drug shortages caused by extreme weather and global instability.

Laura Bray couldn't watch her 9-year-old's leukemia go untreated. She started campaigning to fix a broken system and get patients the treatments they need in the face of drug shortages.

The recent, abrupt shortage of critical cancer drugs is forcing doctors to ration essential medications. It highlights a broken business model in generic drugs.

U.S. doctors can now choose Amjevita instead, the first of several close copies of the popular rheumatoid arthritis drug expected this year. But industry-watchers warn consumer savings may be limited.