This episode on "Abandoned" is about what happens when you are out there all alone -- whether it's because you're physically sequestered, or feeling like it's you versus the establishment, or you versus the world. Those are trying times, but learning ones for everyone involved.

Chapter 1. People Died. The Establishment Played Games (3:10): Here's what it took, and how disgracefully long it took, for a simple COVID research project. Story by Martin Makary, MD, MPH, Editor-in-Chief, MedPage Today, and Johns Hopkins professor.

Chapter 2. The System Failed Us (15:26): Seeking help for her husband, a nurse finds tunnel vision is rampant in medicine. Story by Donna Cardillo, RN.

Chapter 3. Patients in Pain Left Out and Left Behind (25:50): Top-down policies lead to tragedy. Story by Beth Darnall, PhD.

Episode produced by Nicole Lou

Hosted by Amy Ho, MD

Sound engineering by Greg Laub

Theme music by Palomar