Critical Reasoning

Orthodox medicine is ineffective at both ends of the spectrum of ailments. At the
more trivial end, orthodox medicine is largely ineffective in treating aches, pains and
allergies, and, at the other extreme, it has yet to produce a cure for serious, lifethreatening
diseases such as advanced cancer and lupus. People turn to alternative medicine when orthodox medicine fails to help them and when it produces side effects that are unacceptable to them. One of the reasons alternative medicines is free of such
side effects is that it does not have any effects at all.

The charge made above against alternative medicine is most seriously weakened
if it is true that
(A) predictions based on orthodox medicine have sometimes failed, as when a
patient has recovered despite the judgment of doctors that an illness is fatal

(B) alternative medicine relies on concepts of the body and of the nature of
healing that differ from those on which orthodox medicine is based

(C) alternative medicine provides hope to those for whom orthodox medicine
offers no cure

(D) a patient's belief in the medical treatment the patient is receiving can release
the body's own chemical painkillers, diminish allergic reactions, and
promote healing

(E) many treatments used for a time by orthodox medicine have later been found
to be totally ineffective