For several years, per capita expenditure on prescription dr

[gmataspirant9]

Ron,
very well agreed with your point for E.
but are we also not assuming something in A.In problem statement it clearly says "curb these dramatic increases, the ministry of health prohibited drug manufacturers from raising any of their products' prices"

It means this price curb "can" apply for new drugs also.This "can" we are trying to wave off for answer choice A.

[RonPurewal]

It means this price curb "can" apply for new drugs also.This "can" we are trying to wave off for answer choice A.

no.
the passage says that the companies were prevented from raising the prices of drugs.
the word "raise" only makes sense for something that already has a current price -- i.e., a drug that is already on the market. if a company puts out a new drug, then it's impossible to "raise" that drug's price, because the company will be setting the price for the very first time.

[kshitij431]

"per-capita expenditure" is the total price paid for drugs (price per pill * # of pills) divided by the number of people.

If the per capita expenditure is increasing, either the numerator has to be increasing or the denominator has to be decreasing or both.

So, either the price is increasing, the number of pills is increasing, or the number of people is decreasing (or some combination of the above).

premise: product prices can't be raised (note: by definition, this only addresses existing products; new products not yet introduced do not yet have assigned prices)
--> So I can't raise the price of existing products, but I could introduce more expensive products.

premise: the use of prescription drugs did not increase after the price freeze
--> So the number of pills isn't changing

A) new medications = new price introductions. If these prices are higher than the prices for the old products, then that's how I can increase the numerator of my "per capita expenditure" calculation

B) if this changes anything, it would decrease the per capita expenditure (if the new people didn't take any drugs) - though the more reasonable assumption is that the new people are taking drugs at the same rate as the old people, meaning there's no change in per capita expenditure. Either way, per capita expenditure is not increasing.

C) we're concerned with why the per capita expenditure is still increasing and profit levels don't affect that calculation

D) the government can encourage anything it wants - that doesn't mean it happened. And, anyway, if the gov't were successful in this plan, that should have lowered per capita expenditure, not increased it.

E) if this changes anything, it would decrease the per capita expenditure (people aren't buying as many of the expensive drugs anymore)

you really nailed it with your explanation Stacey.

[tim]

:)

[HarshB499]

" Can we eliminate option D and E on basis of Scope Shift? Since the argument is talking about Prescription Drugs, and these two options are talking about just 'drugs' or 'expensive drugs'?

Thanks

Harsh

[RonPurewal]

if you're implying that they have to keep literally mentioning "prescription drugs" over and over again, then, no. (by the same reasoning, you could "eliminate" the CORRECT answer, too!)

[liangl431]

well, accroding to the others, only A has a little possibility to be ok. although i really doubt the limit is only on the old product. so it has to be after finishing alll the choice, that you can make a dicision.

[RonPurewal]

well, accroding to the others, only A has a little possibility to be ok. although i really doubt the limit is only on the old product. so it has to be after finishing alll the choice, that you can make a dicision.

^^ no.

every CR problem will have 1 answer choice that is completely correct, and 4 answer choices that are completely wrong.
(for this problem specifically, see Stacey Koprince's explanation on the first page of this thread.)

there will never be "gray areas".
if you think there are, then, you need to go back and read the text more carefully, and/or think more precisely about the specific issue at hand and/or what kinds of information are relevant/irrelevant.

[liangl431]

well, accroding to the others, only A has a little possibility to be ok. although i really doubt the limit is only on the old product. so it has to be after finishing alll the choice, that you can make a dicision.

^^ no.

every CR problem will have 1 answer choice that is completely correct, and 4 answer choices that are completely wrong.
(for this problem specifically, see Stacey Koprince's explanation on the first page of this thread.)

there will never be "gray areas".
if you think there are, then, you need to go back and read the text more carefully, and/or think more precisely about the specific issue at hand and/or what kinds of information are relevant/irrelevant.

merci pour votre reponse.
i am trying to get the logic of GMAT, and i think it's helpful.

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.

remember to do the same kind of thinking about the problems yourself, after you learn how they work.