PrepTest 129, Section 2, Question 1
Many doctors cater to patients' demands that they(48 more words not shown)
The reasoning above most closely(8 more words not shown)
- AA doctor should(22 more words not shown)
- BA doctor should(24 more words not shown)
- CA doctor should(14 more words not shown)
- DA doctor should(17 more words not shown)
- EA doctor should(22 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why give someone a drug that cannot help with the condition and might hurt them?
The patients want antibiotics for their colds, but the passage explains why antibiotics will not help: colds are caused by viruses, and antibiotics have no effect on viruses. A patient's request does not change that limitation. Add the possibility of dangerous side effects, and the recommendation makes sense. There is a potential cost without a benefit for the condition being treated.
What we’re looking for
We want a principle that captures that reasoning. Be careful not to reduce it to “Never prescribe anything that could cause harm.” A useful drug might carry a risk worth taking. This argument concerns a drug that cannot improve the condition and also carries a risk. Those two features together support withholding it.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This gives us both features: the drug cannot improve the condition, and it potentially has adverse side effects. Antibiotics meet that description when prescribed for the colds discussed here. The principle therefore supports the recommendation not to prescribe them for that purpose.
- B
This prohibits a drug even when it might help the patient. Our argument does not go that far. Its recommendation depends on the absence of a benefit for the cold as well as the possibility of harm. B drops the first part and would also rule out potentially helpful treatments.
- C
The conclusion tells doctors what they should not prescribe. C tells them to prescribe every drug likely to help. Even if we accepted that rule, it would not tell us to withhold a drug that cannot help.
- D
The doctor is not merely uncertain whether antibiotics will benefit the cold. The passage says they have no effect on it. Also, withholding this particular drug is different from withholding treatment altogether; another treatment might help. D does not capture the reason given for rejecting antibiotics.
- E
The argument is not that patients' claims about medications are always unreliable. It gives a reason concerning this medication's effects on this condition. A patient could sometimes be right about an effective medication, and that would not undermine the argument against prescribing antibiotics for colds.
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