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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 01 Mar 2022, 23:28
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan that are resistant to the antibiotic perxicillin has increased substantially. Bacteria can quickly develop resistance to an antibiotic when it is prescribed indiscriminately or when patients fail to take it as prescribed. Since perxicillin has not been indiscriminately prescribed, health officials hypothesize that the increase in perxicillin resistant sinus infections is largely due to patients’ failure to take his medication as prescribed.

Which of the following, it true of Aqadestan, provides most support for the health officials' hypothesis:

(B) A large number of Aqadestanis never seek medical help when they have a sinus infection.

CR06422
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Let me talk about option B.

These people who never seek medical help - do these people take any medication? We don't know. Probably, they don't even take medication. In such a case, how are they relevant to the argument?

Also, can't "medical help" include taking medications?

If "medical help" includes taking medications, then these people DEFINITELY did not take medication since these people never seek medical help. Thus, this group is irrelevant to our discussion.
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 07 Jan 2023, 15:41
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hi KarishmaB

What is the sequence when it comes to (D)

(1) are people failing to take the antibiotic perxicillin as prescribed, resulting in experience severe side effects
OR
(2) are people experiencing severe side effects and thus --> people are failing to take the antibiotic perxicillin as prescribed

What is sequence off events ?

how can you tell ?

how are so sure what is the sequence of events ?
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 08 Jan 2023, 22:30
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hi KarishmaB

What is the sequence when it comes to (D)

(1) are people failing to take the antibiotic perxicillin as prescribed, resulting in experience severe side effects
OR
(2) are people experiencing severe side effects and thus --> people are failing to take the antibiotic perxicillin as prescribed

What is sequence off events ?

how can you tell ?

how are so sure what is the sequence of events ?
Show more

We have to support that patients are not taking the medicine as prescribed. Option (D) gives us a reason why they may not be taking it as prescribed. There has to be a reason why people will not take it as prescribed (say take for fewer days or stop after first few days). It is illogical to assume that people start out by not taking it as prescribed. If they are suffering from a disease and they go to a doc, they will do as prescribed until and unless they face some severe problems with maintaining the prescription.

D) Many patients who take perxicillin experience severe side effects within the first few days of their prescribed regimen

Many patients experience severe side effects from the medicine in the first few days of prescription. So it is likely that they may not be continuing it as prescribed (perhaps taking less or stopping altogether)

It is not logical to assume that they begin by not taking it as prescribed and hence experience side effects. Option (D) does not indicate that patients do not take it as prescribed and hence experience side effects. It indicates that in the first few days patients taking the medicine experience severe side effects of the medicine. This could be the reason why they stop taking it etc thereafter.
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 17 Apr 2023, 23:10
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MartyTargetTestPrep GMATNinja What is the basis for eliminating option A?
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 10 May 2023, 10:03
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MartyTargetTestPrep GMATNinja What is the basis for eliminating option A?­
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The author gives us a reason why bacteria are more resistant to perxicillin: patients fail to take it as prescribed. We're trying to support that argument.

Here's (A):
Quote:

Resistance to several other commonly prescribed antibiotics has not increased since 1990 in Aqadestan
Show more
According to (A), the issue with perxicillin is kind of unique -- several other antibiotics aren't facing the same issue.

What (A) doesn't tell us is why there's a difference between perxicillin and these other drugs. Are patients taking the other drugs correctly, but taking perxicillin incorrectly? If so, that would strengthen the author's argument by pointing the finger at this issue. Alternatively, are patients taking all of the drugs (perxicillin and other) incorrectly? If so, that would weaken the author's argument, because something else must be causing the issue with perxicillin.

Because we have no idea why there's a difference between perxicillin and the other drugs, we can't say that (A) strengthens the author's argument.

Eliminate (A).

I hope that helps!­
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 02 Nov 2023, 11:33
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan that are resistant to the antibiotic perxicillin has increased substantially. Bacteria can quickly develop resistance to an antibiotic when it is prescribed indiscriminately or when patients fail to take it as prescribed. Since perxicillin has not been indiscriminately prescribed, health officials hypothesize that the increase in perxicillin resistant sinus infections is largely due to patients’ failure to take this medication as prescribed.

Which of the following, it true of Aqadestan, provides most support for the health officials' hypothesis:

(A) Resistance to several other commonly prescribed antibiotics has not increased since 1990 in Aqadestan

(D) Many patients who take perxicillin experience severe side effects within the first few days of their prescribed regimen.


CR06422
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GMATNinja KarishmaB
I read both of your explanations but I still had some issues with understanding why (A) is wrong. Here are my POVs:

Option (A), as is, slightly strengthens the argument by conveying that antibiotic resistance is not a trend that's happening for all antibiotics. The negation of Option (A) slightly weakens the argument by conveying that there might be a trend (though what that trend is is not mentioned).
Doesn't the negated version then indirectly convey that something else (unmentioned) caused an increase in resistance? And hence becomes a strengthener/assumption.

Option (D) uses weak qualifiers "Many" and "within a few days of their regimen" to indirectly strengthen the argument by pointing out a reason for the patient's negligence.
I understand that correct options can be created with weak qualifiers, but when I compared the two options relatively, I felt that (A) was stronger.
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 31 Dec 2023, 18:54
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WillGetIt
Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan that are resistant to the antibiotic perxicillin has increased substantially. Bacteria can quickly develop resistance to an antibiotic when it is prescribed indiscriminately or when patients fail to take it as prescribed. Since perxicillin has not been indiscriminately prescribed, health officials hypothesize that the increase in perxicillin resistant sinus infections is largely due to patients’ failure to take this medication as prescribed.

Which of the following, it true of Aqadestan, provides most support for the health officials' hypothesis:

(A) Resistance to several other commonly prescribed antibiotics has not increased since 1990 in Aqadestan

(D) Many patients who take perxicillin experience severe side effects within the first few days of their prescribed regimen.

CR06422

GMATNinja KarishmaB

I read both of your explanations but I still had some issues with understanding why (A) is wrong. Here are my POVs:

Option (A), as is, slightly strengthens the argument by conveying that antibiotic resistance is not a trend that's happening for all antibiotics. The negation of Option (A) slightly weakens the argument by conveying that there might be a trend (though what that trend is is not mentioned).

Doesn't the negated version then indirectly convey that something else (unmentioned) caused an increase in resistance? And hence becomes a strengthener/assumption.

Option (D) uses weak qualifiers "Many" and "within a few days of their regimen" to indirectly strengthen the argument by pointing out a reason for the patient's negligence.

I understand that correct options can be created with weak qualifiers, but when I compared the two options relatively, I felt that (A) was stronger.
Show more
This question is creeping me out a little bit: at the moment, I happen to have a sinus infection that appears to be antibiotic-resistant. :shock: :shock: :shock:

Anyway, the hypothesis in the argument is that patient compliance is to blame for the issue with perxicillin. There's nothing implying that this is ONLY an issue with perxicillin -- perhaps patients stink at following directions with ALL antibiotics. Or, maybe it IS just perxicillin, and patients are great at taking other antibiotics for some reason. Either way, it wouldn't impact the hypothesis that the patients are to blame. So, the presence or absence of a "trend" wouldn't support the argument.

(A) tells us that resistance to several other commonly prescribed antibiotics has not increased since 1990 in Aqadestan. But again, maybe patients are better at following directions with these other antibiotics, but are not good at sticking to the plan with perxicillin. (A) doesn't give us any insight into whether patient compliance is the problem with perxicillin, so we can eliminate it.

Incidentally, (D) provides us with a reason why patients specifically are to blame: many patients experience severe side effects, which explains why they don't take the drug as prescribed.

That's why (D) is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 08 Aug 2024, 03:24
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MartyMurray GMATNinja Option B can have 2 directions- 1. People do not consult doctors and hence they are not prescribed antibiotics. In this case, we can eliminate B.
2. People don't consult doctors and consume antibiotics without a prescription. This becomes our strengthner.
So how do we go about it?
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 28 Aug 2024, 07:33
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MartyMurray GMATNinja Option B can have 2 directions- 1. People do not consult doctors and hence they are not prescribed antibiotics. In this case, we can eliminate B.

People don't consult doctors and consume antibiotics without a prescription. This becomes our strengthner.

So how do we go about it?

Show more
­The hypothesis is that the increase in perxicillin-resistant sinus infections is largely due to patients’ failure to take the medication as prescribed.

So if Tim decides to take the medication WITHOUT a prescription, then there's no way to say that he has or has not taken it "as prescribed" because it wasn't prescribed at all!

The prescription represents the instructions from the medical professional, and we can't say whether or not a patient has followed the instructions if the instructions never existed.

Your second scenario might support a DIFFERENT hypothesis (i.e. that the increase in perxicillin-resistant sinus infections is largely due to patients' taking the medication WITHOUT a prescription), but it does not support the specific hypothesis in the passage.

(D) is a much better answer, as explained here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/since-1990-the-percentage-of-bacterial-sinus-infections-in-aqadestan-199805-20.html#p3328065.­
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 25 Dec 2024, 20:01
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MartyMurray GMATNinja AnishPassi
Ik tons of explanations but why can't A still be a defender strengthener - by removing an additional cause that there hasn't been an overall decline in the trend of resistance we can single out and blame patients prescription compliance for this one. Ofc one may doubt and say hey but what if they is no resistance for other antibiotics because patients are following prescriptions in first place for all of them and therefore we have no reason to doubt that they may not follow here, but i can make a similar argument for option D that despite severe complications, i still dont stop the prescription
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 07 Jan 2025, 11:32
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Kavicogsci

Ik tons of explanations but why can't A still be a defender strengthener - by removing an additional cause that there hasn't been an overall decline in the trend of resistance we can single out and blame patients prescription compliance for this one. Ofc one may doubt and say hey but what if they is no resistance for other antibiotics because patients are following prescriptions in first place for all of them and therefore we have no reason to doubt that they may not follow here, but i can make a similar argument for option D that despite severe complications, i still dont stop the prescription
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You have to ask yourself: "Without any other information, how does this impact the argument?"

With choice (D), knowing that there are SEVERE side effects is reason to believe that people will stop taking the medicine. Sure, maybe those people will continue taking the medication. But by itself, choice (D) is EVIDENCE that people will stop taking the medication. (For more on that, check out this post.)

The problem with (A) is that it could go either way. Imagine that resistance to the other commonly prescribed antibiotics HAS gone up. We still don't know WHY resistance to any of the individual antibiotics went up.

Maybe resistance to some went up because they were prescribed indiscriminately, and maybe resistance to others went up because patients failed to take them as prescribed. Do we put perxicillin in the first group or the second? There's no evidence one way or the other, so we have no idea.

In short, the resistance to other antibiotics doesn't tell us WHY people are resistant to perxicillin, so (A) is irrelevant.
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 08 Jan 2025, 00:19
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P1: Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in A that are resistant to the antibiotic p has increased substantially.
P2: Bacteria can quickly develop resistance to an antibiotic when
1. it is prescribed indiscriminately or
2. when patients fail to take it as prescribed.

P3: Since p has not been indiscriminately prescribed,
C: the increase in p resistant sinus infections is largely due to patients’ failure to take this medication as prescribed.

Strengthen the conclusion:

(A) Resistance to several other commonly prescribed antibiotics has not increased since 1990 in A
we are not concerned about other[b]Rejected

(B) A large number of A never seek medical help when they have a sinus infection. (If they don't seek the help, means medication is not prescribed to the patients), so there must be other reason for that

(C) When it first became available, p was much more effective in treating bacterial sinus infections than any other antibiotic used for such infections at the time.(not relevant)

(D) Many patients who take p experience severe side effects within the first few days of their prescribed regimen
(so, if they feel side effects they will stop it, so yeah, they didn't take it as prescribed, as they must take some break in between), Strengthen

(E) Health clinics provide antibiotics to their patients at cost
(not relevant)[/b]
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 25 Sep 2025, 11:13
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KarishmaB Could you please elaborate on option B. If they dont take medical practitioner's help, then there are chances they are not taking it as prescribed( if they would have consulted the practitioner). Isnt this giving a strengthening possibility?
KarishmaB


"Patients do not take it as prescribed" is not an assumption. It is the given conclusion. We need to strengthen this conclusion so we need to increase the probability that it is correct. Now, if we are given a reason why people may not take it as prescribed, it will strengthen our conclusion.
Severe side effects could be one such reason. It increases the probability that people do not take it as prescribed.
Another reason could be say one needs to take it every 3 hrs so people skip it at night. Again, gives a reason why people may not take it as prescribed and could be another strengthener.
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Since 1990 the percentage of bacterial sinus infections in Aqadestan 26 Sep 2025, 00:39
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KarishmaB Could you please elaborate on option B. If they dont take medical practitioner's help, then there are chances they are not taking it as prescribed( if they would have consulted the practitioner). Isnt this giving a strengthening possibility?

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Aishna1034 I'll add my two cents here. You're missing a critical distinction.

Option B talks about people who never seek medical help for sinus infections. This means they:
- Never get prescribed perxicillin
- Never take perxicillin at all
- Cannot contribute to perxicillin resistance

Why Your Logic Breaks Down:

You're thinking: "If they don't consult a doctor → they might self-medicate incorrectly → this strengthens the hypothesis"

But here's the problem: Bacteria can only develop resistance to an antibiotic when they're actually exposed to it. People who never seek medical help aren't taking perxicillin (prescribed or otherwise), so their bacteria never encounter the drug and can't develop resistance to it.

The Hypothesis's Specific Focus:

The health officials' hypothesis is about prescribed perxicillin users who don't complete their course properly. It's this group that creates resistant bacteria by:
  1. Starting the antibiotic (killing weaker bacteria)
  2. Stopping early (allowing stronger bacteria to survive and multiply)
  3. Creating a resistant strain

Option B describes a completely different population that's irrelevant to the resistance problem.

Strategic Pattern Recognition:

In GMAT CR strengthen/weaken questions about cause-and-effect:
- Always identify the specific population the conclusion addresses
- Eliminate options about different populations (like B)
- Focus on options that directly impact the causal mechanism (like D, which explains why patients stop taking medication early)

You can practice similar Critical Reasoning questions here (these are official questions) - select Strengthen/Weaken under CR and choose the difficulty level based on your current understanding.
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