Necessary AssumptionDiff: Medium
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: It costs a fortune to get legal permission to sell a drug, and since you can't patent a plant to protect your investment, nobody pays for the approval process for herbs, leaving doctors unable to officially suggest them.
Conclusion: Under the current regulatory framework, it is impossible for licensed doctors to recommend herbs for medicinal purposes.
Reasoning: The high cost of obtaining mandatory regulatory approval for drug sales can only be recovered through patents, yet herbs themselves are legally ineligible for patent protection.
Analysis: The argument identifies a financial and regulatory barrier to explain why herbs aren't prescribed, but it relies on a significant logical leap. It assumes that a physician's ability to recommend a substance is strictly tied to that substance having formal regulatory-agency approval for sale as a drug. To make this argument hold water, we must assume that doctors are legally or professionally prohibited from recommending anything that hasn't cleared that specific $200 million hurdle. Look for an answer that connects the 'approval for sale' requirement to the 'physician's recommendation' action.
Conclusion: Under the current regulatory framework, it is impossible for licensed doctors to recommend herbs for medicinal purposes.
Reasoning: The high cost of obtaining mandatory regulatory approval for drug sales can only be recovered through patents, yet herbs themselves are legally ineligible for patent protection.
Analysis: The argument identifies a financial and regulatory barrier to explain why herbs aren't prescribed, but it relies on a significant logical leap. It assumes that a physician's ability to recommend a substance is strictly tied to that substance having formal regulatory-agency approval for sale as a drug. To make this argument hold water, we must assume that doctors are legally or professionally prohibited from recommending anything that hasn't cleared that specific $200 million hurdle. Look for an answer that connects the 'approval for sale' requirement to the 'physician's recommendation' action.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage11.The argument depends on the assumption that
Correct Answer
C
C supplies the needed link: doctors cannot recommend an herb’s medicinal use unless the herb is offered for sale as a drug. Negation test: if a physician can recommend an herb even when it is not offered for sale as a drug, then the author’s conclusion (“physicians cannot recommend the medicinal use of herbs”) is false—so C is necessary.
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