Critical Reasoning: Double-blind Trial
XAT 2019 · Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning · Medium · Critical Reasoning
Read the following paragraph and answer the question that follows:
An accurate measure of drug efficacy would require comparing the response of patients taking it with that of patients taking placebos; the drug effect could then be calculated by subtracting the placebo response from the overall response, much as a deli-counter worker subtracts the weight of the container to determine how much lobster salad you're getting. In the last half of the 1950s, this calculus gave rise to a new way to evaluate drugs: the double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, in which neither patient nor clinician knew who was getting the active drug and who the placebo.
Which of the options is a wrong answer to this Question How does a double-blind ensure a better trial of a new drug?
- A.
It increases the overall response to the drug.
- B.
The patient does not know whether he/she is getting a placebo.
- C.
It reflects the calculus exemplified by the deli-counter episode.
- D.
The clinician cannot pick and choose patients to whom placebos can be administered.
- E.
It gives rise to an unbiased testing of drugs.
A
Explanation
A double-blind trial measures accuracy objectively; it does not intrinsically 'increase the overall response' to a drug. Thus, option A is a wrong answer to how double-blind ensures a better trial.
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