Orthodox medicine is ineffective at both ends of the spectrum of ailme

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, life‑threatening 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 medicine 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 totallyineffective