#17 - Two alternative drugs are available to prevent blood

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[onlywinter]

Hi,

I chose C but viewed E as a contender. Since the stimulus from a discussion of the dofferences in effectiveness to an exaggerated conclusion unsupported by the premises ("There is no established medical reason"), I chose C. It seemed a more fundamental flaw than E. However, I would contend that E could be a flaw, too. We learn that "drug Z is either no more or only slightly more effective than drug Y", couldn't we say that the author is "confusing economic reasons for selecting a treatment with medical reasons"? If drug Z is even slightly more effective but the writer is attacking the drug for being more expensive, would it not be true that the author is taking more into account economic than medical reasons?

[Ben DiFabbio]

Hi,

I chose C but viewed E as a contender. Since the stimulus from a discussion of the dofferences in effectiveness to an exaggerated conclusion unsupported by the premises ("There is no established medical reason"), I chose C. It seemed a more fundamental flaw than E. However, I would contend that E could be a flaw, too. We learn that "drug Z is either no more or only slightly more effective than drug Y", couldn't we say that the author is "confusing economic reasons for selecting a treatment with medical reasons"? If drug Z is even slightly more effective but the writer is attacking the drug for being more expensive, would it not be true that the author is taking more into account economic than medical reasons?

Hey Winter,

I can see what enticed you about answer choice E, since the stimulus does mention that drug Z is more expensive than drug Y. However, when you look back at the conclusion, you'll see that it does not actually urge doctors to recommend drug Y over drug Z because drug Y is cheaper. The conclusion just says that "there is no established medical reason for doctors to use drug Z rather than drug Y." The conclusion is focused on the merits of drug Z.

The flaw in the argument, which answer choice C points out, is that there might be some medical reasons to choose Z over Y that have nothing to do with either drug's effectiveness. For example, maybe Y has some crazy side effects that Z doesn't have.

I hope that helps, and happy prepping!

- Ben