# 3900
One of the subjects I’ve written about several times over the summer is that no matter how good a job the CDC and HHS do with this pandemic, they going to be criticized. They are in a no-win situation.
That’s something I wrote about in July in an essay called Hubris And The Flu, and before that in early May with Before We Ride Down And Shoot The Survivors.
It isn’t fair of course. But that’s the way it is. When you take on the job, you automatically get a target on your back.
Which is one of the reasons I try to temper my criticisms of these agencies. I’m at least partially aware of how difficult the task before them really is.
While there have been some communication missteps along the way, I find myself pretty impressed with the CDC’s response so far. Not perfect, of course. But nothing ever is.
Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor of Reuters, takes a hard look at this no-win fight today.
U.S. government faces no-win fight with flu
Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:41pm EDT
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor – AnalysisWASHINGTON (Reuters) - First came the jibes about the U.S. government rushing out an untested swine flu vaccine. Now, critics say it is not fast enough.
"The premise that 'you can't win' is part of the equation," said Dr. D.A. Henderson, who advised the administration of former president George W. Bush on pandemic preparedness.
It is a lesson playing out in real time by U.S. government health officials as the H1N1 pandemic turns from a scientific and logistical battle to a political one.
