The coronavirus has exposed deadly weaknesses in global medical supply chains. Why was the U.S. left scrambling for PPE and other critical medical supplies — and why do problems persist now, months into the crisis?

For the past seven months, our team has been interviewing manufacturers and government officials, analyzing records, and tracing key medical supplies along a fragile chain. Produced by the PBS series FRONTLINE, The Associated Press, and the Global Reporting Centre, America’s Medical Supply Crisis is a joint investigation examining the failures and unheeded warnings of a system at risk.

Additional support for this project was provided by the Global Reporting Centre at the University of British Columbia through funding from Humanity United and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.


Documentary credits and transcript

Full credits and the official transcript for the documentary is available via the PBS series FRONTLINE’s website.

Website credits

  • Writing & reportingMartha Mendoza, Juliet Linderman, Britney Dennison, Kate McCormick, Stephan Lavoie, Irena Hwang, Sharon Nadeem
  • Digital producersBritney Dennison, Andrew Munroe
  • IllustrationsPeter Hamlin
  • Design & developmentAndrew Munroe
  • DesignBritney Dennison
  • Front page imageAP Photo/Michael Dwyer
  • ResearchLogan Turner, Katarina Sabados, Calyn Shaw
  • Executive producerPeter Klein
  • Digital producer (for AP)Raghuram Vadarevu