XAT 2019 — VARC Question 25
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?
Answer & solution
- A
The clinician cannot pick and choose patients to whom placebos can be administered.
- B
It gives rise to an unbiased testing of drugs.
It increases the overall response to the drug.
- D
It reflects the calculus exemplified by the deli-counter episode.
- E
The patient does not know whether he/she is getting a placebo.
As per the first sentence of the paragraph, the overall effect of a drug was calculated by subtracting the placebo response to the overall response. Option 1 is a right answer since in this case, even doctors do not know if the drug they are administering is a placebo or not. So they cannot be biased about giving the drug. Negate option 1. Since neither the patient nor the doctor knows of the drug is real or not, the response will be unbiased. Negate option 2. Option 3 is incorrect as only not knowing the type of drug taken will not increase the overall response to any drug. Retain it. Option 4 is true as scientists or researchers can calculate the effect of the placebo from the actual drug. So it can also be negated. Option 5 is also true as the patient does not know the type of drug that he is taking.
Hence, the correct answer is option 3.