#6 - While grapefruit juice is a healthy drink, it has been

[goingslow]

Hi there!

I have a question about answer choice (E). The conclusion claims that "the BEST medical approach would be to take lower doses of these medications along with prescribed amounts of grapefruit juice." Doesn't (E) suggest an alternative approach that could make the proposed approach look weaker? (E) says that we could just let the patients take the normal dosage and avoid grapefruit juice. That sounds like a more dependable approach that would produce stable results.

Thank you in advance!

[katehos]

Hi goingslow!

While (E) could be considered an alternative approach, this does not mean it is a better approach nor does it mean (E) weakens the argument. There are a few reasons why (E) is problematic, the first of which being that (E) discusses what doctors did long before the chemical was discovered while the stimulus discusses the best approach after the chemical was discovered. So, we cannot use our preconceptions about whether or not drinking no grapefruit juice at all is actually a better medical approach than the one discussed in the stimulus and this answer choice is irrelevant to the present situation.

Additionally, (E) itself does not purport to offer a better alternative! For all we know, drinking no grapefruit juice could be a worse approach than taking lower doses with prescribed amounts of grapefruit juice. Even if we think one interpretation of (E) might offer a better approach, the answer choice does not say and so (E) does not do the best job of weakening the argument.

I hope this helps
Kate

[goingslow]

Thank you so much Kate!