NEW HERE? LEARN MORE
closeclose
Last visit was: 29 Apr 2024, 01:21 It is currently 29 Apr 2024, 01:21
Decision Tracker
My Rewards
New posts
New comers' posts

Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel

A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug d

SORT BY:
Date
Kudos
Tags:
Find Similar Topics 
Show Tags
Hide Tags
User avatar
B
CaffeinatedCoder
Intern
Intern
Joined: 22 Jul 2023
Posts: 11
Own Kudos [?]: 18 [5]
Given Kudos: 1
Send PM
A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug d [#permalink] New post   24 Jul 2023, 08:39
1
Kudos
4
Bookmarks
00:00
A
B
C
D
E

Difficulty:

95% (hard)

Question Stats:

20% (01:41) correct 80% (02:04) wrong based on 138 sessions
Hide Show timer Statistics
A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug designed to treat depression. The company claims that the drug will represent a major advance in antidepressant therapy based on the results of an initial clinical trial. In the trial, 70% of patients with depression who received the new drug reported a significant improvement in their symptoms.

Which of the following is an assumption required by the pharmaceutical company's claim?

A) The new drug does not cause any major side effects that could outweigh its potential benefits.
B) A majority of patients with depression who take traditional antidepressants improve significantly.
C) The patients who received the new drug were selected randomly from the overall population of patients with depression.
D) The initial clinical trial was designed in a way that minimized the placebo effect.
E) Patients who received the new drug were not also making positive lifestyle changes that could have helped improve their depression.
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
A
User avatar
P
walterwhite756
Senior Manager
Senior Manager
Joined: 09 Jun 2020
Posts: 299
Own Kudos [?]: 177 [0]
Given Kudos: 171
Location: India
GMAT 1: 720 Q50 V36
GPA: 4
Send PM
Re: A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug d [#permalink] New post   24 Jul 2023, 21:00
Apart from (A) and (E) all options are out of scope/irrelevant.

(E) Patients who received the new drug were not also making positive lifestyle changes that could have helped improve their depression.

What does the company claim?
Quote:
The company claims that the drug will represent a major advance in antidepressant therapy based on the results of an initial clinical trial.

It claims that drug will represent a MAJOR ADVANCE. This is where the assumption is, what if its not a MAJOR ADVANCE? What if there are other side effects? So in total, company assumes that side effects are not present so as to lead to NOT SO MAJOR ADVANCE. This is exactly what (A) states,

A) The new drug does not cause any major side effects that could outweigh its potential benefits.

As far as (E) is concerned, company is not assuming anything about LIFESTYLE CHANGES, it could assume about DIETARY CHANGES as well, CHANGE OF AMBIENCE etc. There are endless options which could have been assumed by company such that Company would not have been limited to assuming LIFESTYLE CHANGES only.

Option A is the answer.

Hope it helps.
User avatar
L
Kinshook
GMAT Club Legend
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 03 Jun 2019
Posts: 5345
Own Kudos [?]: 3972 [0]
Given Kudos: 160
Location: India
Schools: HBS '22 CBS '22 Wharton '22
GMAT 1: 690 Q50 V34
WE:Engineering (Transportation)
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug d [#permalink] New post   31 Jul 2023, 17:06
A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug designed to treat depression. The company claims that the drug will represent a major advance in antidepressant therapy based on the results of an initial clinical trial. In the trial, 70% of patients with depression who received the new drug reported a significant improvement in their symptoms.

Conclusion: The company claims that the drug will represent a major advance in antidepressant therapy based on the results of an initial clinical trial.

Which of the following is an assumption required by the pharmaceutical company's claim?

Quote:
A) The new drug does not cause any major side effects that could outweigh its potential benefits.

If the new drug will represent a major advance in antidepressant therapy based on the results of an initial clinical trial then it should not t cause any major side effects that could outweigh its potential benefits.
Correct

Quote:
B) A majority of patients with depression who take traditional antidepressants improve significantly.

We are not concerned with traditional antidepressants.
Incorrect

Quote:
C) The patients who received the new drug were selected randomly from the overall population of patients with depression.

We are not concerned with the selection of patients for the study.
Incorrect

Quote:
D) The initial clinical trial was designed in a way that minimized the placebo effect.

If the new drug is MAJOR advance in antidepressant therapy, then placebo effect should not have impacted the results.
Incorrect

Quote:
E) Patients who received the new drug were not also making positive lifestyle changes that could have helped improve their depression.

There are other ways to improve the results apart from positive lifestyle changes, e.g. dietary changes etc. that could have helped improve depression.
Incorrect

IMO A
User avatar
D
RenB
Senior Manager
Senior Manager
Joined: 13 Jul 2022
Posts: 323
Own Kudos [?]: 548 [0]
Given Kudos: 189
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Nonprofit
Schools: HBS Stanford Wharton
GPA: 3.74
WE:Corporate Finance (Non-Profit and Government)
Send PM
Re: A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug d [#permalink] New post   02 Aug 2023, 19:42
Kinshook wrote:
A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug designed to treat depression. The company claims that the drug will represent a major advance in antidepressant therapy based on the results of an initial clinical trial. In the trial, 70% of patients with depression who received the new drug reported a significant improvement in their symptoms.

Conclusion: The company claims that the drug will represent a major advance in antidepressant therapy based on the results of an initial clinical trial.

Which of the following is an assumption required by the pharmaceutical company's claim?

Quote:
A) The new drug does not cause any major side effects that could outweigh its potential benefits.

If the new drug will represent a major advance in antidepressant therapy based on the results of an initial clinical trial then it should not t cause any major side effects that could outweigh its potential benefits.
Correct

Quote:
B) A majority of patients with depression who take traditional antidepressants improve significantly.

We are not concerned with traditional antidepressants.
Incorrect

Quote:
C) The patients who received the new drug were selected randomly from the overall population of patients with depression.

We are not concerned with the selection of patients for the study.
Incorrect

Quote:
D) The initial clinical trial was designed in a way that minimized the placebo effect.

If the new drug is MAJOR advance in antidepressant therapy, then placebo effect should not have impacted the results.
Incorrect

Quote:
E) Patients who received the new drug were not also making positive lifestyle changes that could have helped improve their depression.

There are other ways to improve the results apart from positive lifestyle changes, e.g. dietary changes etc. that could have helped improve depression.
Incorrect

IMO A


Can we thus say that E may be a strengthener but doesnt have to be true whereas A is the assumption which HAS to be true?
User avatar
B
CaffeinatedCoder
Intern
Intern
Joined: 22 Jul 2023
Posts: 11
Own Kudos [?]: 18 [0]
Given Kudos: 1
Send PM
Re: A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug d [#permalink] New post   14 Aug 2023, 08:58
CaffeinatedCoder wrote:
A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug designed to treat depression. The company claims that the drug will represent a major advance in antidepressant therapy based on the results of an initial clinical trial. In the trial, 70% of patients with depression who received the new drug reported a significant improvement in their symptoms.

Which of the following is an assumption required by the pharmaceutical company's claim?

A) The new drug does not cause any major side effects that could outweigh its potential benefits.
B) A majority of patients with depression who take traditional antidepressants improve significantly.
C) The patients who received the new drug were selected randomly from the overall population of patients with depression.
D) The initial clinical trial was designed in a way that minimized the placebo effect.
E) Patients who received the new drug were not also making positive lifestyle changes that could have helped improve their depression.



An assumption is something unstated that must be true for the conclusion to follow from the evidence. Identifying the assumption allows us to evaluate the argument's logic.

In this question, the company concludes their drug is a "major advance" in treating depression based on initial trial results.

What is an assumption needed to link the evidence to this conclusion?

A) Drug has no major side effects
This HAS to be true for the company's conclusion of "major advance" to logically follow based just on short-term trial results.

B) Traditional antidepressants are less effective
Irrelevant to the specific conclusion tied to the initial trial results.

C) Random patient selection
Trial sampling is irrelevant to the "major advance" conclusion.

D) Placebo effect was minimized
Trial design does not allow broad claims without assuming no major side effects.

E) Patients were not making lifestyle changes
Lifestyle changes could potentially contribute to measured improvements in the trial. However, the conclusion of a "major advance" specifically requires assuming no major side effects. Even if lifestyle changes did play a role, the drug cannot be considered a breakthrough without ruling out detrimental side effects first. There are many factors that could potentially improve symptoms, but the company is not considering those nuances. They make a very strong conclusion tied to drug capability itself, which requires assuming no major side effects undermining the drug's benefit. Lifestyle changes do not HAVE to be ruled out for their specific conclusion to follow logically.

In summary, option A identifies an assumption that HAS to be true for the company's claim to be valid. The other options do not identify assumptions central to the argument's logic.
User avatar
B
UK770
Intern
Intern
Joined: 01 Dec 2022
Posts: 17
Own Kudos [?]: 5 [1]
Given Kudos: 22
Location: Uzbekistan
Send PM
Re: A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug d [#permalink] New post   14 Aug 2023, 09:37
1
Kudos
CaffeinatedCoder wrote:
A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug designed to treat depression. The company claims that the drug will represent a major advance in antidepressant therapy based on the results of an initial clinical trial. In the trial, 70% of patients with depression who received the new drug reported a significant improvement in their symptoms.

Which of the following is an assumption required by the pharmaceutical company's claim?

A) The new drug does not cause any major side effects that could outweigh its potential benefits.
B) A majority of patients with depression who take traditional antidepressants improve significantly.
C) The patients who received the new drug were selected randomly from the overall population of patients with depression.
D) The initial clinical trial was designed in a way that minimized the placebo effect.
E) Patients who received the new drug were not also making positive lifestyle changes that could have helped improve their depression.



A) The new drug does not cause any major side effects that could outweigh its potential benefits.

Posted from my mobile device
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
Re: A pharmaceutical company is conducting clinical trials on a new drug d [#permalink]
14 Aug 2023, 09:37
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
6923 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
238 posts
mysterymanrog
CR Forum Moderator
832 posts

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne
Main navigation
GMAT Resources
Partners
MBA Resources
www.gmac.com|www.mba.com | | GMAT Club Rules | Terms and Conditions