AutoBot wrote:
Couple patients who come to a fertility clinic generally get a prescription for clomiphene, a fertility drug, each time they take a pregnancy test that shows up negative. However, females who test less than 12 days from the date of conception have generally not built up enough hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in their bodies, a sign of pregnancy, to be detected reliably. Many first time patients are impatient and make their decisions to get another costly prescription after negative results from a pregnancy test less than 8 days after conception.
Which of the following, if performed by the fertility clinic, could logically be expected to resolve the potentially costly problem of first time patients paying for an unnecessary second prescription of clomiphene?
(A) Releasing a general announcement that females less than 12 days from conception cannot be effectively tested for pregnancy
(B) Requiring all females less than 12 days from conception to have a doctor’s prescription before taking a pregnancy test
(C) Researching possible ways to test females less than 8 days from conception for pregnancy
(D) Ensuring that couples do not make their purchase decision before 12 days has passed since conception
(E) Stopping all females who have been taking fertility drugs for more than 12 months and having them learn more about another pregnancy option called in vitro fertilization (IVF)
Responding to a pm:
Couple patients get a prescription for clomiphene when they see a negative pregnancy test.
However, less than 12 days from the date of conception the test is not reliable.
Many patients are impatient and buy costly prescription after seeing negative results less than 8 days after conception.
How to resolve the problem?
(A) Releasing a general announcement that females less than 12 days from conception cannot be effectively tested for pregnancy
Too general. Release a general announcement where? how? Will the couples get to read it? What will they make of it? This doesn't seem to be an effective solution. Also, since couples are impatient, they may ignore a general announcement.
(B) Requiring all females less than 12 days from conception to have a doctor’s prescription before taking a pregnancy test
Not correct. It is the couple's choice. They can take the test everyday if they wish to. In some cases, the positive result may appear within 3-4 days. You cannot deny testing. You are trying to avoid early
purchase of expensive treatment. Besides, a doctor's prescription does not imply that the test result will be reliable.
(C) Researching possible ways to test females less than 8 days from conception for pregnancy
Out of scope. Not a logical solution for a clinic.
(D) Ensuring that couples do not make their purchase decision before 12 days has passed since conception
Yes, this the clinic can do. They can ensure that the couple wait at least 12 days before deciding to retake the treatment. After 12 days if the result is still negative, the retake makes sense since the test becomes reliable at that time.
(E) Stopping all females who have been taking fertility drugs for more than 12 months and having them learn more about another pregnancy option called in vitro fertilization (IVF)
Out of scope.
Answer (D)