GMAT Essays (AWA)

The following appeared in an article in a consumer-products magazine:

"Two of today's best-selling brands of full-strength prescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid, Acid-Ease and Pepticaid, are now available in milder nonprescription forms. Doctors have written 76 million more prescriptions for full-strength Acid-Ease than for full-strength Pepticaid. So people who need an effective but milder nonprescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid should choose Acid-Ease."

Discuss how well reasoned ... etc.


The argument concludes that people who need an effective but milder nonprescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid should choose Acid-Ease. The conclusion is based on the premises that doctors have written 76 millions more prescription for full-strenght Acid-Ease than for full-strenght Pepticaid. The argument is logically flawed, however, because it is based on numerous assumptions for which no evidence is given.

The argument assumes that the milder version of the medications shares some of the characteristics with the full-strength medications. This assumption is based on the fact that both the full-strength version and the milder version are used to treat excess stomach acids. However, we do not know anything about the characteristics of the full-strength version compared to those of the milder version.

The argument ignores the possibility that the the reason why more prescriptions for full-strength Acid-Ease have been given than for full-strength Pepticaid is in other reasons than effectiveness. For example one of the reasons could be the price or the availability. Moreover, there is no indication on the period of reference for the data given.

The argument fails to consider that the effectiveness of a full-strength medication can be different from a milder medication even though they are produced from the same company under the same brand or name. In fact, the full-strength medication requires a prescription, while the milder medication does not require a prescription. Therefore the characteristics of the two versions may differ consistently.

In conclusion, the argument that people who need an effective but milder nonprescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid should choose Acid-Ease is weak. If, for example, additional information on why more prescriptions for the Acid-Ease medication have been written were given, then the argument would be strengthen. Absent this information, however, there is no reason to accept the argument's conclusion.