A study conducted by the National Institutes of Health demonstrated th

Question

A study conducted by the National Institutes of Health demonstrated that the decrease in the number of deaths due to incorrect prescriptions in the US last year was the greatest since such statistics were first tracked. However, the same study also showed that public concern over incorrect prescriptions was greater last year than ever before.
If deaths due to incorrect prescription decrease a lot, then public will be less concerned.
For e.g we are more concerned about deaths resulting from AIDS than those resulting from Polio
Hence the Paradox

Which of the following, if true, best resolves this paradox?

A) Stricter penalties for physicians who wrote erroneous prescriptions were the primary cause of last year’s decrease in death rates due to incorrect prescriptions.

B) The news media did not increase its reporting of public concern over incorrect prescriptions in proportion to last year’s increase in such concern.

C) Most people do not know that the National Institutes of Health tracks statistics regarding changes in the death rate due to incorrect prescriptions.

D) People who have the greatest concern about incorrect prescriptions are usually among those at greatest risk of receiving an incorrect prescription.

E) The news media covered substantially more cases of incorrect prescriptions that resulted in death last year than it had in previous years.

thevenus · Answer

Tricky indeed !

The demonstration given by the National Institutes of health shows both the decrease in death toll due to incorrect prescription and the public anxiety over the deaths caused by the same.This creates a paradox that what was the reason behind the people's worry.Maybe, because of some of the negative inputs given to people by some other reasonable authority?(E) clarify the paradox that - the media focused on the death caused by the incorrect prescription and so the hype created by the media made people to worry more.

badribaba1984 · Answer

E Wins for me too..It gives a good reason for the people's anxiety

Capricorn369 · Answer

I'm not able to understand the paradox here.
The Arugment says - decrease in the number of deaths due to incorrect prescriptions was the greatest because public concern over incorrect prescriptions was greater. Where is the paradox? Can someone assist?

Cheers!

thevenus · Answer

A study conducted by the National Institutes of Health demonstrated that the decrease in the number of deaths due to incorrect prescriptions in the US last year was the greatest since such statistics were first tracked. However, the same study also showed that public concern over incorrect prescriptions was greater last year than ever before.
If deaths due to incorrect prescription decrease a lot, then public will be less concerned.
For e.g we are more concerned about deaths resulting from AIDS than those resulting from Polio
Hence the Paradox

Although less deaths were recorded last year,but people were anxious about the genuineness of prescription.

badribaba1984 · Answer

The paradox is when the death reduced we would assume that people would be happy. In this case the public concern should have reduced. Where as the public concern actually increased ..

Capricorn369 · Answer

@thevenus & @badribaba1984 - 
Folks - Thx for comments. Let me put this another way - 
People concerns were high last year and that why they were cautious wrong prescriptions. This resulted in decrease in the number of deaths last year. I don't see any paradox here. 
Makes sense?

badribaba1984 · Answer

Here you are assuming a causation effect . where as these 2 are observations. Cause and effect is not mentioned anywhere.

Capricorn369 · Answer

@badribaba1984 - looks like you've changed your answer and I am with you now. :-D

My answer is E as well. Btw, I agree that it is not a causation effect and both actions are taking place together.

badribaba1984 · Answer

@Capricorn369 i am glad that the explanation was helpful to you..

souvik101990 · Answer

A study conducted by the National Institutes of Health demonstrated that the decrease in the number of deaths due to incorrect prescriptions in the US last year was the greatest since such statistics were first tracked. However, the same study also showed that public concern over incorrect prescriptions was greater last year than ever before.
If deaths due to incorrect prescription decrease a lot, then public will be less concerned.
For e.g we are more concerned about deaths resulting from AIDS than those resulting from Polio
Hence the Paradox

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

A study conducted by the National Institutes of Health demonstrated th

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

A study conducted by the National Institutes of Health demonstrated th

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards