Address the concern

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 111
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2012 11:09 am
Thanked: 1 times
Followed by:7 members

Address the concern

by Soumita Ghosh » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:16 pm
Some public health advocates have become concerned that directly advertising prescription drugs to consumers is likely to cause some patients to pursue certain medications that may be inappropriate for their individual health situation. However, marketing to consumers should not be limited as long as physicians also continue to be educated about such medications, because a physician's prescription is still required in order for patients to obtain these drugs.

Which of the following facts would most directly address the concern articulated by the public health advocates?

A)After a certain number of years, prescription drugs lose patent protection and other companies can then manufacture and market generic forms of the drugs.

B)Consumers can now find technical drug information on the Internet, information that previously would have been available only to physicians.

C)Physicians are also exposed to prescription drug advertisements that are directed toward consumers.

D)Physicians are not susceptible to pressure from patients in determining appropriate courses of treatment.

E)Fewer than 15% of patients are likely to remember and ask by name for specific drugs that they see advertised in magazines or on television

Can anyone explain me how can OA D

My understanding is like this :
Public health advocates concerned is that advertising prescription drugs to consumers is likely to cause some patients to pursue certain medications that may be inappropriate for their individual health situation. our work is to choose the correct answer which will address the concern articulated by the public health advocates from among the choices. According to the choice D Physicians are not susceptible to pressure from patients in determining appropriate courses of treatment. This is actually addressing the opposite view instead of addressing the concern of advocates. As Physicians are not susceptible to pressure from patients in determining appropriate courses of treatment so physicians can recommend the medicine of their choice and which is appropriate for patient health. So advertising does not cause any wrong choice of medicine by the patients.

Please explain me where I am wrong in understanding..

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2013 5:03 am
Thanked: 9 times
Followed by:4 members
GMAT Score:700

by shenoydevika » Sun Feb 17, 2013 11:52 pm
It seems to me, that you have misunderstood the term 'addressing the concern' here.

It's like this - I don't want to go shopping today because I think it might rain. (So my concern here is that it will rain) My cousin wants to go shopping so she makes me watch the weather forecast which says that there is no chance of rain. Here, the weatherman addresses my concern by informing me that it won't rain. (weird example, I know. But it's all I could think of as it's raining cats and dogs here. In February! Can you imagine?)

Now, to our actual CR question.
The consumer advocate is concerned that direct advertising to consumers will make them pursue medication unsuited to them. Option D says that Physicians are not susceptible to pressure from patients. So physicians will only prescribe appropriate medicines. This directly addresses the concern of the consumer advocate. As in, this option gives a direct answer(of sorts) to the consumer advocate to allay his fears.

Makes sense now?

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 111
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2012 11:09 am
Thanked: 1 times
Followed by:7 members

by Soumita Ghosh » Wed Feb 20, 2013 9:32 am
@shenoydevika thanks a lot for your response.

I understand your explanation and understand I misunderstood the term 'addressing the concern'.

Kindly let me know why not E is correct. As per the choice E it is given that fewer than 15% of patients are likely to remember and ask by name for specific drugs that they see advertised in magazines or on television. So we can say that consumer cannot buy medicine which they see in advertisement and so they need prescription recommended by doctor.Also they cannot pressurized the doctor in determining appropriate courses of treatment as they do not remember the medicine they have seen in advertisement.It is also addressing the concern of the consumer advocate. As in, this option gives a direct answer(of sorts) to the consumer advocate to allay his fears.

Please response me and clear my doubt.

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2013 5:03 am
Thanked: 9 times
Followed by:4 members
GMAT Score:700

by shenoydevika » Thu Feb 21, 2013 10:34 pm
Hey Soumita,

You're right, E also seems like a good option. But it's not the correct answer.

See, what is the Consumer advocate's concern?
Some public health advocates have become concerned that directly advertising prescription drugs to consumers is likely to cause some patients to pursue certain medications that may be inappropriate for their individual health situation.
See? SOME patients. They are not worried that all patients would pursue inappropriate meds. Even if SOME patients pursue inappropriate meds, it will be a problem!!

Option E tells us
Fewer than 15% of patients are likely to remember and ask by name for specific drugs that they see advertised in magazines or on television
So fewer than 15%. Let's assume 10% of patients remember the advertised drugs and pursue them. 10% of patients is still SOME of the patients right? So it does not address the concern of the consumer advocates.

{If Option E told us that NONE of the patients remembered the advertisement and NONE of them were likely to ask for the advertised meds, then that would have addressed the consumer advocates concern
}


Does that help?

User avatar
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2017 7:39 pm

by soudeh » Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:35 am
shenoydevika wrote:Hey Soumita,

You're right, E also seems like a good option. But it's not the correct answer.

See, what is the Consumer advocate's concern?
Some public health advocates have become concerned that directly advertising prescription drugs to consumers is likely to cause some patients to pursue certain medications that may be inappropriate for their individual health situation.
See? SOME patients. They are not worried that all patients would pursue inappropriate meds. Even if SOME patients pursue inappropriate meds, it will be a problem!!

Option E tells us
Fewer than 15% of patients are likely to remember and ask by name for specific drugs that they see advertised in magazines or on television
So fewer than 15%. Let's assume 10% of patients remember the advertised drugs and pursue them. 10% of patients is still SOME of the patients right? So it does not address the concern of the consumer advocates.

{If Option E told us that NONE of the patients remembered the advertisement and NONE of them were likely to ask for the advertised meds, then that would have addressed the consumer advocates concern
}


Does that help?



Hi,
Could you please explain the question stem?
Isn't the question asking for an option that would address the concerns of the public health advocates, i.e. that would tell us or throw some more light on the concerns of the public health advocates.
If that is the case, then option (d) is actually telling the opposite. If there is no pressure from the patients, then the physician will prescribe anything he feels right. Thus, even after advertising, the patients wont be able to buy any product if that is not prescribed by the physician.

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 2663
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 am
Location: Boston, MA
Thanked: 1153 times
Followed by:128 members
GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:46 am
soudeh wrote:
shenoydevika wrote:Hey Soumita,

You're right, E also seems like a good option. But it's not the correct answer.

See, what is the Consumer advocate's concern?
Some public health advocates have become concerned that directly advertising prescription drugs to consumers is likely to cause some patients to pursue certain medications that may be inappropriate for their individual health situation.
See? SOME patients. They are not worried that all patients would pursue inappropriate meds. Even if SOME patients pursue inappropriate meds, it will be a problem!!

Option E tells us
Fewer than 15% of patients are likely to remember and ask by name for specific drugs that they see advertised in magazines or on television
So fewer than 15%. Let's assume 10% of patients remember the advertised drugs and pursue them. 10% of patients is still SOME of the patients right? So it does not address the concern of the consumer advocates.

{If Option E told us that NONE of the patients remembered the advertisement and NONE of them were likely to ask for the advertised meds, then that would have addressed the consumer advocates concern
}


Does that help?



Hi,
Could you please explain the question stem?
Isn't the question asking for an option that would address the concerns of the public health advocates, i.e. that would tell us or throw some more light on the concerns of the public health advocates.
If that is the case, then option (d) is actually telling the opposite. If there is no pressure from the patients, then the physician will prescribe anything he feels right. Thus, even after advertising, the patients wont be able to buy any product if that is not prescribed by the physician.

The health advocates are worried that patients, after seeing these commercials, will demand medications that are inappropriate for them. If doctors aren't susceptible to pressure from patients, that's a good thing! It means that when a patient a demands medication X, and the doctor knows that medication X treats a condition that the patient doesn't have, the doctor will refuse, thus ensuring that only the patients who can benefit from medication X receive a prescription. (Moreover, because the argument insists that doctors need to be educated about these medications, we can assume that if a patient requests a medication he does need, the doctor would write the prescription.)
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course

User avatar
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2017 7:39 pm

by soudeh » Fri Oct 13, 2017 10:44 pm
DavidG@VeritasPrep wrote:
soudeh wrote:
shenoydevika wrote:Hey Soumita,

You're right, E also seems like a good option. But it's not the correct answer.

See, what is the Consumer advocate's concern?
Some public health advocates have become concerned that directly advertising prescription drugs to consumers is likely to cause some patients to pursue certain medications that may be inappropriate for their individual health situation.
See? SOME patients. They are not worried that all patients would pursue inappropriate meds. Even if SOME patients pursue inappropriate meds, it will be a problem!!

Option E tells us
Fewer than 15% of patients are likely to remember and ask by name for specific drugs that they see advertised in magazines or on television
So fewer than 15%. Let's assume 10% of patients remember the advertised drugs and pursue them. 10% of patients is still SOME of the patients right? So it does not address the concern of the consumer advocates.

{If Option E told us that NONE of the patients remembered the advertisement and NONE of them were likely to ask for the advertised meds, then that would have addressed the consumer advocates concern
}


Does that help?



Hi,
Could you please explain the question stem?
Isn't the question asking for an option that would address the concerns of the public health advocates, i.e. that would tell us or throw some more light on the concerns of the public health advocates.
If that is the case, then option (d) is actually telling the opposite. If there is no pressure from the patients, then the physician will prescribe anything he feels right. Thus, even after advertising, the patients wont be able to buy any product if that is not prescribed by the physician.

The health advocates are worried that patients, after seeing these commercials, will demand medications that are inappropriate for them. If doctors aren't susceptible to pressure from patients, that's a good thing! It means that when a patient a demands medication X, and the doctor knows that medication X treats a condition that the patient doesn't have, the doctor will refuse, thus ensuring that only the patients who can benefit from medication X receive a prescription. (Moreover, because the argument insists that doctors need to be educated about these medications, we can assume that if a patient requests a medication he does need, the doctor would write the prescription.)



thanks a lot for your help
so, "address the concern " here means:" get rid of this concern"???
therefore we assume if doctors are not susceptible to pressure from patients, there is no worry! ok??