The World Bank has offered ethical guidance to the governments of

Question

New Project RC Butler 2019  -  Practice 2 RC Passages Everyday   
Passage # 342, Date : 20-Sep-2019
 This post is a part of New Project RC Butler 2019 .  Click here for Details

The World Bank has offered ethical guidance to the governments of nations in making priority-setting decisions for pharmaceutical policy. A leading point of this counsel is to respond in only limited ways to patient demands for therapies that are not cost-effective. In every healthcare system, there is a possibility, and, frankly, a reality of overspending in the course of treatment, wasting a nation's limited resources. Patients who independently finance needless treatments that create no further medical costs manifest a less problematic form of overspending, but their treatment nevertheless potentially represents economic dead weight and the diversion of limited resources that could be applied toward necessary ends. Overspending public funds is even more problematic, since public sector spending is systematic and controllable through policy. Most serious is over-medication that harms the patient or others. A leading example of such an erroneous practice is the  excessive administration of antibiotics , which, in fostering antimicrobial resistance, may pose as much risk or even greater risk than under-administration of vaccines. Decreasing wasteful medical expenditures is important in the effort to the World Bank's suggested primary goal, which is to maintain a cost-effective pharmaceutical system that maximally, and equitably, improves population health.
 
Furthermore, the World Bank recommended, as a counterpart to these measures, efforts to improve the population's understanding of pharmaceutical uses and choices. This long-term goal is equally important and equally difficult to achieve in wealthier nations. Better public understanding helps decrease the tension between less-informed wants and well-determined needs. Culturally ingrained maxims, such as a preference for injections, do not change overnight. Furthermore, relying on  brand identification  can be a rational strategy for information-limited consumers worldwide. Nevertheless, moving citizens to a more informed and empowered position is an ethical obligation, as well as a strategy to reduce costs and minimize risks.   1  
 D 
 1. The passage is primarily concerned with

A. identifying two practices in medical care that create wasteful spending
B. describing medical research practices that increase costs and risks
C. dispelling myths about unnecessary medical care that drive up costs
D. describing policy points and actions proposed to the governments of nations
E. explaining how the healthcare industry has usually prescribed pharmaceuticals and how such practices will change

2  
 A 
 2. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the excessive administration of antibiotics referred to in the  highlighted text ?

A. It potentially wastes money and diverts medical resources.
B. It is caused solely by the uninformed wants of patients.
C. It will, if left unchecked, grow to be a larger threat than that of under-administration of vaccines.
D. It benefits the individual receiving treatment at the expense of the well-being of society at large.
E. Its can be attributed to ingrained cultural maxims about what constitutes proper treatment.

3  
 C 
 3. Which of the following is most likely a benefit of administering medicine in a case as the one described in the highlighted text below? 
 A leading example of such an erroneous practice is the excessive administration of antibiotics, which, in fostering antimicrobial resistance, may pose as much risk or even greater risk than under-administration of vaccines.

A. It would foster antimicrobial resistance.
B. It would reduce overspending in the long term, though it would contribute to overspending in the short term.
C. It would satisfy a less-informed want on the part of the patient.
D. It would be a relatively less problematic form of overspending on pharmaceuticals.
E. It would be systematic and controllable through policy.

4  
 D 
 4. The author mentions brand identification in the  highlighted text  primarily in order to

A. identify the cultural belief that is most responsible for overspending
B. advocate against complete implementation of the World Bank's recommendations
C. indicate an example of a culturally ingrained maxim about medicine
D. illustrate a reasonable factor that inhibits efforts to reduce medical costs
E. provide evidence for the claim that the World Bank's recommendations should be implemented in wealthier countries as well as in less wealthy countries

5  
 A 
 5. According to the passage, which of the following describes an aspect of nations' use of pharmaceutical therapies?

A. Nations are overly responsive to patients' demands for therapies that incur needless cost.
B. Nations currently fail to address the single greatest cause of financial waste in healthcare.
C. Nations have failed to implement policy controlling public-sector spending of pharmaceuticals.
D. The individuals making policy-setting decisions about pharmaceuticals in nations have been misled by culturally ingrained maxims.
E. The individuals making policy-setting decisions about pharmaceuticals in nations have let political pressures create a situation in which overspending is systematic.

Source:  GMAT Free  (22)
Difficulty Level:   700

blowice27 · Answer

These are based on my understanding
Time 3 min : reading 3 min question = total 6 min

1. a : no two practices
b. not medical 'research'
c. no myths
d. correct
e. doesnt mention how things 'will change'

2.a correct
b "solely' to extreme and not mentioned in the para
c. distortion. nowhere mentioned 'if left unchecked' + 'may pose   as much risk  or even greater risk than under-administration of vaccines'
d. doesnt benefit well being of the person receiving treatment
e. memory trap, unrelated

3.a. opposite
b. not mentioned about long term or short term gains
c. only relevant answer
d. not mentioned
e.'could' not 'would'

4. quite clearly d. as its mentioned that "relying on brand identification can be a rational strategy", means it could inhibit(decrease) effort to reduce cost
e. 'consumers worldwide' is clearly mentioned

5. para 1. "respond in only limited ways to patient demands for therapies that are not cost-effective" means they overdo it currently

sk7075 · Answer

I have a doubt in Q.2 option A)"It potentially wastes money and diverts medical resources."
we can infer the 1st part that it wastes money. But how to infer the 2nd part i.e it diverts medical resources??

Thanks in advance

bM22 · Answer

Hi  sk7075 ,
2nd part of option A of Question 2 can be inferred from the lines: "Patients who independently finance needless treatments that create no further medical costs manifest a less problematic form of overspending, but their treatment nevertheless potentially  represents economic dead weight and the diversion of limited resources that could be applied toward necessary ends ."

Hope This Helps.
Thanks.

mehro023 · Answer

Hi  SajjadAhmad

OA/OE for Q3 please ? I chose A whereas it is C.

Thanks,
-K

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

3. Which of the following is most likely a benefit of administering medicine in a case as the one described in the highlighted text below?

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

This question requires us to determine what kind of  "case"  is described there. The lines refer to now-familiar excessive administration of antibiotics. But we are asked to identify a benefit of such a case--a case of overmedication that may be harmful. That might be hard to imagine, so we can simply apply ourselves to the answer choices and look for one that is consistent with the passage.

Choice (A)  describes a negative outcome, so it's out.

Choice (D)  is inaccurate, because the author has identified this case as especially problematic, so it's out.

Choice (B)  makes a claim that has no support in the passage, and which is implausible, to boot.

Choice (C)  must be true, because it's a recurring theme of the passage that patients demand these treatments and that their wants are less-informed.

Choice (E)  describes the spending of public funds, which has not been equated with the case of harmful medication, so it's out.

The correct answer is (C).

Gmattired · Answer

SajjadAhmad  can you explain question 4 and can you also share the difficulty level of other questions?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

4. The author mentions brand identification in the highlighted text primarily in order to

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

This question asks us why the author mentions brand identification. Rather than focus on those two words, we should look at what is going in these lines or this paragraph, because that greater point will define the purpose of the detail contained within. The author is explaining the second point of counsel from the World Bank, which is that education of the populace is important. The mention of brand identification is a nuanced point, because the author describes it as  "rational."  It is, nevertheless, still inferior to being informed, since it's rational for  "information limited consumers"  (In second paragraph). Let's see what answer choices are consistent with these points the author is making.

Choice (A)  makes too strong a statement, because we don't know that this belief is most responsible.  (A)  is out.

Choice (B)  is out, because, as we've said, relying on brand is still not the best solution.

Choices (C) and (D)  might fit, so we'll keep them in.

Choice (E)  is inaccurate, because the passage states specifically that  "brand identification is a rational strategy for information-limited consumers worldwide."

We must decide between  (C) and (D) ; one of the two has an objective error. First  (C) : is brand identification an example of a culturally ingrained maxim? It is not, as we can tell from our understanding of the terms and from the use of the word  "furthermore"  (In second paragraph) to advance the latter point as distinct and different from the prior one. We know, moreover, that the practice is reasonable, and that it contributes to overspending.

Correct answer is (D).

Only question #1 is 600-level other all are 700-levels

Thank you.

VerbalBot · Answer

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The World Bank has offered ethical guidance to the governments of

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