The brusque, ambitious Claire Ramsey arrived in Springfield in 1983 with a secret. Working as a doctor at Cedars, she briefly dated Ross Marler (whose campaign for reelection to the DA's office Claire was supporting) but broke it off when he became involved in a scandal with a prostitute named Lola Fontaine. She then began an affair with Kelly Nelson, even though she had an eye for the equally handsome Dr. John Stephens. Kelly had been helping Claire with a patient of hers, and the pair become close with eventually Claire revealed that she had a child in medical school that she put up for adoption. Late that year, Kelly surprised Claire with a marriage proposal, which she turned down. In 1984, after seducing and deflowering Rick Bauer, Claire was shocked to learn that her brother, Jimmy, was injured in a motorcycle accident, so she rushed to his bedside. Luckily he would turn out to be all right.

Months later, Claire's secret finally came out when she learned Hillary Bauer (Rick's aunt) was in San Rios. Hillary was in San Rios because she erroneously believed that her boyfriend, Jim Reardon (whom Claire had known as John Stephens), was there to find a cure for the Dreaming Death virus. It turned out that he and Claire shared a common goal--she was working as a researcher for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and had previously been to San Rios because the CDC was trying to prevent the "the Dreaming Death" virus from spreading and find a cure. Claire and Jim (who in reality was still in Springfield) worked feverishly to develop a cure. The key to solving the medical mystery laid with an Incan necklace, but hospital administrator Warren Andrews stole the necklace, hoping to make his fortune along with Alan Spaulding by marketing the Dreaming Death virus as a biological weapon. To sabotage Jim's work, Warren set free a dozen infected mice from Jim's lab. Alas, one newly liberated rodent managed to sink his teeth into Warren's wife, Lesley Ann Monroe. Claire then returned with Hillary and journalist Fletcher Reade to Springfield when she learned that Jim was already there working on a cure. Claire again found herself attracted to Jim, who unfortunately for Claire, was very much in love with Hillary. Meanwhile, a penitent Warren returned the necklace to Jim, but it was too late to save Lesley Ann. When Hillary also caught the illness, Jim, against Claire's protests, injected himself with the virus and the cure (created with inspiration from an African medicine man named Zamana), to test it. Luckily, the cure worked, and Jim and Hillary continued their romance much to Claire's chagrin.

Claire then suddenly found herself in a whirlwind romance with Fletcher when they helped Hillary, Jim, Tony and Annabelle Reardon investigate the mystery of their house in Barbados. Susan Piper tried to stop them by letting Claire and Fletcher sail on a stormy night, but they survived and, finally, the mystery ended with Hillary being killed in an explosion that the revelation that Brandon Spaulding had faked his own death. Unfortunately for Claire, Hillary's death would take its toll on, not only Jim, but Fletcher as well, since it reminded him of the death of his first wife. Feeling like a third wheel, Claire had a one-night stand with Kelly Nelson. Not long after, Jim set aside his grief and tried to resume his relationship with Claire. Though she reciprocated at first, it soon became apparent that her feelings were stronger for Fletcher and Jim left town. About that time, Fletcher and Claire resumed their relationship. Not long after, came a startling turn of events. While in Beirut, in February 1985, with Fletcher (who had lost his daughter and wife there due to war) and their new friends Ed and Maureen Bauer, Fletcher and Maureen disappeared one day and were assumed dead after an explosion. Overcome with grief, Claire and Ed sought comfort in each other's arms and had a one-night-stand. The next day, Fletcher and Maureen returned unharmed and Claire and Fletcher became engaged. Not long after, Claire found herself pregnant and the baby had to be Ed's since Fletcher had a vasectomy years earlier! Not wanting to hurt Fletcher, Claire left him at the altar. Later, Fletcher forgave her and the two tried to give the relationship another try. Unfortunately, Claire's mood swings were too much for Fletcher and the pair broke up. Soon after, Claire gave birth to a daughter, Michelle.

Motherhood didn't sit well with Claire, since she was too busy with her career and social life. Since she was temporary living at the Bauer house, she wanted to Ed and Maureen to take care of Michelle while she went out for nights on the town. Claire even tried to win Fletcher back, but Fletcher no longer wanted her. As an upset Ed and Maureen pondered about fighting for custody of Michelle, Claire kept on ignoring her baby and started leaving her alone in the house. Around this time, a pregnant Maeve Stoddard Sampson suffered a near miscarriage when she collapsed due to hypoglycemia and was rushed to Cedars by Fletcher. Claire who was on call at the time, saved Maeve and the baby's life, but Claire restricted Maeve to bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy. Kyle Sampson hired Claire to come to his and Maeve's house to keep an eye on Maeve and make sure she followed doctor's orders. Claire later found out that Kyle had bought the Reva Bend property and let his former lover, Reva Shayne, stay there, while she was recovering from hypothermia after an accidental near drowning in January 1986.

Claire used this information to try to attempt to blackmail Kyle into having an affair with her. Meanwhile, Claire spotted an opportunity to hurt Ed through Rick, when she became aware that Rick was misusing amphetamines. Claire subtlety supported Rick's use of drugs by persuading him that "any action was justified when it was carried out in the name of medicine." Meanwhile, when Claire continued to neglect their daughter, Ed decided to file for sole custody of Michelle. When Claire was unable to convince Ed to drop the custody suit, she went to Rick and, presenting him with the torn prescription forms, she ordered him to convince Ed and Maureen to stop trying to take Michelle away from her. If he couldn't, she'd report Rick to the medical board and he'd be dropped from the accelerated program because of his drug problem. Backed against a corner, Rick reluctantly tried to talk Ed and Mo out of the lawsuit, but they refused to back down. Later, hoping to convince Claire to stop blackmailing him, Rick went to her apartment, but was unable to persuade her to change her tactics. After Claire threw Rick out, he overheard Claire threaten Michelle with physical abuse. Rick then saw an overwrought Claire rushed out, leaving the baby alone in the apartment. Afterwards, Rick confessed confess everything to his father. Claire's behavior started becoming increasingly paranoid and erratic and during the med school finals, in a pique of anger, she gave Rick an "F" before even reading the exam.

In the meantime, Claire had been blackmailing Kyle by telling him that she had gotten his lover off the hook by saying Rick had stolen the penicillin from Cedars and not Reva. Kyle refused to be kowtowed by Claire into having an affair, so Claire told Maeve that Kyle owned Revabend and convinced Maeve that Kyle was having an affair with Reva. So at this time, Claire overheard Fletcher warn Reva that actor Cain/Harry (who had saved Reva when she nearly drowned in January 1986) was a murderer. Aware that several people in Springfield now had his number, Cain/Harry went completely insane and when Claire started poking around Revabend, Cain/Harry took Claire hostage and threw Claire off of the Springfield River Bridge. Fortunately Kyle came along and rescued Claire. Unluckily during Kyle's rescue, she fell and had to be taken to Cedars for treatment. Claire languished in a coma for several weeks. With Claire in a coma, Rick went to the medical board in the hopes that his final could be reviewed since he was certain that he'd passed the test. Unfortunately, the crucial paper had fallen into the trash. Knowing that his only chance to pass med school lied in Claire's recovery, Rick kept vigil at her bedside, hoping his words would help her come out of her coma. Rick's vigil over Claire paid off. He was nearby when the plug was pulled on Claire's life support system and Claire began breathing on her own.

Days later, she regained consciousness, but there were large gaps in her memory. She didn't remember anything about her vendetta against the Bauers or about Rick's failed exam! Weeks later, with bits of her memory returning, Claire decided to appear before the medical board at Cedars and described the circumstances which led to her failing Rick's medical school exam. The hospital board, over Alan Spaulding's objections, decided to give Rick an opportunity to prove that he was a qualified doctor by allowing him to retake his final. Meanwhile, Claire was suffering from brain seizures. Her condition caught the eye of a charismatic, brilliant, although controversial neurologist named Mark Jarrett. Ed objected when Mark made Claire a test case for an experimental procedure. Mark tried to get Ed to see that Claire's earlier vindictiveness might have been caused by the same illness that had caused her brain seizure. When Ed wouldn't listen, Mark went to Maureen who talked Ed into letting Mark perform the procedure. The operation was a success! While Ed came around after Mark cured Claire and, became a media celebrity as a result, Kyle had a hunch about Mark that proved to be correct: Mark was a pawn in Alan's attempt to take over Cedars. To beat Alan at his own game, Kyle himself set his sights on the institution. Alan was chagrined to discover Mark's new bond with Ed and yanked his funding while Alexandra stepped in as Mark's new benefactor. At the same time, Alex's dormer stepdaughter, India, opened a gallery and held an art showing to benefit Mark's research. Both women were attracted to the doctor, but he grew weary of being caught in their constant crossfire. Mark romanced Claire, his miracle patient, and they left Springfield together as husband and wife.

In 2000, while working at a medical school in Chicago, a divorced Claire received a visit from Harley Cooper who was asking an awful lot of questions about Rick. Frantic, Claire called Rick and warned him that their little secret could be exposed. The secret was that Rick was not legally a doctor! Apparently, Rick was too strung out to take his medical boards years ago, so Claire, feeling sorry for how she treated him, took it for him. While talking to Rick, Claire asked about a now grown-up Michelle and was shocked to learn that she was on trial for the murder of Ben Warren. Concerned, Claire decided to return to Springfield to establish a relationship with her daughter. Putting a strain on her and Michelle's relationship was Claire's disapproval of Michelle's mobster husband, Danny Santos. Claire was determined to reunite with Michelle even after a horrified Michelle learned of Claire attempting to kill her as a baby. She began to make progress, genuinely concerned for her daughter's safety while near the likes of Danny and Carmen Santos. At the same time, Claire clashed with Rick's wife, Abby, and Harley while she conspired with Carmen and Maria Santos to separate Michelle from Danny. Claire tried to fool Abby into thinking a drunken Rick slept with her, but Abby didn't buy it. However, Rick's and Abby's marriage ended anyway when Abby left town after Claire secretly arranged a job for her in Washington since she saw Abby as a threat in her and Michelle's relationship.

Later, Claire was shocked when Rick publicly confessed their secret. However, soon Rick discovered that Claire lied all along--he really had passed the test; Claire just lied about it because she wanted something to hold over him. Disgusted with Claire, Rick told her to get help. Not long after, Carmen was killed, shortly before entering witness protection, and the resulting stress caused Michelle to miscarry her baby. Claire was there for her as best as she could be, while simultaneously fending off Danny's attempts to dig into Carmen's death. Several months later, Claire's worst nightmare came true when a "dead" Carmen kidnapped Michelle (who was pregnant again) and planned to kill her and her unborn child. Claire guiltily revealed that she had worked with Carmen to fake her death, eliciting a promise from Carmen never to bother Michelle again. After Danny saved Michelle and apparently killed Carmen, Michelle cut ties with Claire yet again while Claire was temporary suspended from Cedars for what she'd done.

Claire then struck up a relationship with fellow conniver Alan Spaulding, moving into the Spaulding mansion. In early 2001, she helped deliver Michelle's baby son, Robbie, bringing them closer together. Unfortunately the tenuous reconciliation was broken when Claire wore a wire for the Feds, hoping to trap Danny into incriminating himself. She then worked with Reva to kick Noah Chase's flirty) ex-wife, Perdita, out of town. While Claire wondered where her relationship with Alan was going, Alan was growing increasingly close to Claire's former friend Olivia Spencer, whose love for business and devious boardroom politics made her far more of a match for Alan than Claire. Claire realized what was going on, but was powerless to stop the winds of fate. Soon, Alan had her bags packed and tossed her out of the Spaulding mansion.

In 2002, Claire led a secluded life. When not pleading with Michelle for yet another chance, she could be seen at the hospital clashing with Mel Boudreau and Rick, or treating family members. She had a few words of warning for Michelle when Maria was brought in with a stroke and Catalina was murdered: "The Santos women seem to be dropping like flies." Claire continued to make enemies when she told Carmen that Reva pulled the plug on Richard Winslow. This indirectly led to Reva's arrest for Richard's murder. Since Claire had mentioned, at one point, that she missed Chicago, it is possible that she went back to The Windy City without much fanfare because not long after she disappeared from the canvas all together.