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, S* ]4 H! r8 D. O S. I This ad recommends non-prescription Acid-Ease over non-prescription Pepticaid for relief of excess stomach acid. The only reason offered is that doctors have written 76 million more prescriptions for the full-strength prescription form of Acid-Ease than for full-strength Pepticaid. While this reason is relevant, and provides some grounds for preferring Acid-Ease over Pepticaid, it is insufficient as it stands because it depends on three unwarranted assumptions.2 m" s5 t$ C/ o) `! l
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The first assumption is that the prescription form of Acid-Ease is more popular among doctors. But this might not be the case, even though doctors have written 76 million more prescriptions for Acid-Ease. Acid-Ease may have been available for several more years than Pepticaid; and in the years when both products were available, Pepticaid might have actually been prescribed more often than Acid-Ease.来源:考试大% v% `% h! C9 ]8 P3 I5 J
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The second assumption is that doctors prefer the prescription form of Acid-Ease for the reason that it is in fact more effective at relieving excess stomach acid. However, doctors may have preferred Acid-Ease for reasons other than its effectiveness. Perhaps Acid-Ease is produced by a larger, more familiar drug company or by one that distributes more free samples. For that matter, the medical community may have simply been mistaken in thinking that Acid-Ease was more effective. In short, the number of prescriptions by itself is not conclusive as to whether one product is actually better than another.来源:考试大; } H1 F9 F: ~! L. h
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The third assumption is that the milder non-prescription forms of Acid-Ease and Pepticaid will be analogous to the full-strength prescription forms of each. But this might not be the case. Suppose for the moment that the greater effectiveness of prescription Acid-Ease has been established; even so, the non-prescription form might not measure up to non-prescription Pepticaid. This fact must be established independently.来源:考试大
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* o; W5 e m- v4 Y1 s) A In conclusion, this ad does not provide enough support for its recommending non-prescription Acid-Ease over nonprescription Pepticaid. To strengthen its argument, the promoter of Acid-Ease would have to show that (1) the comparison between the number of prescriptions is based on the same time period; (2) its effectiveness is the main reason more doctors have prescribed it, and (3) the comparative effectiveness of the two non-prescription forms is analogous to that of the prescription forms. |