LSAT Question Explanation
PT 105, Section 1, Question 7
StrengthenArgument structure
Generic drugs are just as effective, and cost less than, brand-name drugs of the same type.
The generic drugs have the same active ingredients and seemingly cost less to produce.
Explanation
The author has shown that generic drugs have the same active ingredients as brand-name, but does that prove that they're just as effective? What if they use different inactive ingredients that ruin the effect, or they have production defects in their cheap factories?
Simply saying that the generics have the same active ingredients doesn't convince me that they're just as effective, because overall effect is a broader concept than just the active ingredient list. I'll be looking for an answer that brings in new information to help support that the generic drugs actually are just as effective as brand-name.
Answer choices
This doesn't really help with telling us that the generics are just as effective as brand-name, and we already know that generics are cheaper overall to develop and produce, so this doesn't give much strength to the conclusion.
This eliminates the possibility that the generic drugs are defective and poorly produced relative to the brand-name. This strengthens the claim that the generics are just as effective.
This doesn't tell us about effectiveness or cost.
We already know from the stimulus that the brand-name drugs have high costs, and this doesn't tell us anything about which drugs are more effective.
This tells us nothing about effectiveness or cost.