New effort to reduce drug shortages a small step (AP)

President Barack Obama speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011, before signing an executive order directing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take steps to reduce drug shortages.  (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP – Unprecedented drug shortages are threatening the lives of cancer patients and other seriously ill people, and the Obama administration’s plan to tackle them is but a small step toward solving a complex problem.