PT147.S3.P3.Q19 > Analytics

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The following passage is based on an article published in 1987.

Intro topic · Problems arise in comparative clinical studies of medical treatments

These trials involve withholding one or more treatments from at least one group of patients. This creates ethical issues.

Traditional standard · Equipoise (no opinion)

The traditional view is that doctors participating in comparative clinical trials shouldn't have an opinion about which treatment is more effective

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Author's perspective · Theoretical equipoise is too strict, because researchers will usually have an opinion

Even if at the start a doctor thinks both treatments are equal, as the study continues, it's likely that doctors will develop an opinion about which is better.

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Author's proposal · Clinical equipoise

Many trials are done to resolve a conflict in the expert community about what treatment is best for a given illness. Experts can be honestly divided about which is better.

Elaborate on clinical equipoise · As long as there's no expert consensus, the trial is OK

If there's no consensus among experts about which treatment is better, it's OK to do the trial. And it's OK for researchers to have an opinion about which is better.

Passage Style

Critique or debate

Problem-analysis

19.

As used in the third ████████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ ████ ███████████ ████ ██████ ██████ ██ █ █████ ██ ██████

Question Type

Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)

Structure

Read the sentence containing “community” to better understand the meaning. We’re told that one purpose for doing clinical trials is to resolve a debate over what treatment is to be preferred for a particular illness. What “community” would be involved in that debate? Probably doctors and other people who would treat the illness. So “community” means something like “the doctors who would treat the illness.”

who focus on █ ██████ ███ ██ ████████ █████ █ ██████ ████ ██ █████████

This is far more general than we would anticipate, but it’s correct. A group of doctors who are interested in treating illnesses are a group of people who “focus on a common set of problems” (illnesses) using a “shared body of knowledge” (medicine).

94%

who live and ████ ██ ███ ████ ████████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████

This doesn’t capture the way that “community” is focused on treating illnesses. Geography doesn’t play a role.

who share opinions ████ ██████ █████████████ ████ █████ ██ █████ ██████

Although the “community” has conflicting opinions, this doesn’t mean one “community” is defined by having opinions that are different from another “community.” There’s just one community, and there are differing opinions within that community.

whose association with ███ ███████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ███████ ███████ ██████

This doesn’t capture the way that “community” is focused on treating illnesses. “Community” doesn’t refer to people with differing ethical values; it’s about a common interest in treating illnesses.

whose similar research ███████ ███ ████████ ██ █████████ ███████████

“Unrelated disciplines” doesn’t fit. The “community” is part of the medical discipline. We have no reason to think the community involves different disciplines.

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