Argument51, 两个小时的处男作,求拍~

MercurySonUID：2765276

"Doctors have long suspected that secondary infections may keep some patients from healing quickly after severe muscle strain. This hypothesis has now been proved by preliminary results of a study of two groups of patients. The first group of patients, all being treated for muscle injuries by Dr. Newland, a doctor who specializes in sports medicine, took antibiotics regularly throughout their treatment. Their recuperation time was, on average, 40 percent quicker than typically expected. Patients in the second group, all being treated by Dr. Alton, a general physician, were given sugar pills, although the patients believed they were taking antibiotics. Their average recuperation time was not significantly reduced. Therefore, all patients who are diagnosed with muscle strain would be well advised to take antibiotics as part of their treatment."
DATE: 2010-3-11

In this argument, the arguer draws a conclusion that all patients diagnosed with muscle strain would be well advised to take antibiotics in treatment. To justify this claim, the arguer cites the preliminary results of a study of two groups of patients: the first group of people treated by a doctor who specializes in sports medicine and used antibiotics regularly in his treatment process had quicker recuperation time than the other group of patients treated by a general physician using sugar pills. Ostensibly, the assertion seems appealing. However, a careful examination will reveal how groundless the conclusion is.

First of all, the argument assumes that the different medicine the two groups of patients took-- antibiotics and sugar pills-- is the only possible explanation for the different recuperation time. Nevertheless the argument fails to substantiate the assumption. It is entirely possible that different health conditions between the two groups of patients contributed to the different recovery time. Patients in the first group may be younger, stronger and healthier than those of the second group. Or perhaps it is because of the two doctors' differences in knowledge and experience of treating muscle strain that led to the different recovery time. Dr. Newland, as a specialist in sports medicine, may have been specially trained and are more familiar with treating muscle strain than the general physician Dr. Alton. Without ruling out these possible alternative explanations, the argument that it is antibiotics that makes the recuperation time reduced is unconvinced to me.

In addition, the author ignores the effects of sugar pills taken by the patients of the control group. Perhaps, sugar pills had played a negative role in healing the second group of patients and delayed the recovery of the second group. With ruling out this scenario, the argument remains untenable.

Moreover, the arguer unfairly assumes that people diagnosed with muscle strain will necessarily suffer from secondary infections. It is likely that even if patients in the study were diagnosed with muscle strain, secondary infections did not occur. At this point, antibiotics, known for its use to prevent infections, did not work at all in this study. Therefore the preliminary results become meaningless.

Finally, granted that taking antibiotics is effective in treating these two groups of patients, encouraging all patients to take antibiotics in the treatment of muscle strain is not wise. Lacking the evidence that this two groups of patients are representative, the effectiveness of antibiotics in the first group may not necessarily apply to all patients suffered from muscle strain. Also, some patients may be allergic to antibiotics. Even if the recuperation time can be reduced, their lives may be threatened. In this case, the conclusion seems destructive rather than convincing.

In conclusion, the arguer fails to convince me that all patients diagnosed with muscle strain should be advised to use antibiotics in their treatment. To strengthen the argument, the arguer must provide evidence that patients from two groups are comparable, and except using different medicines, the two doctors are similar in their way of treating muscle strain. To better evaluate this argument, I need to know more information about the effects of sugar pills on the second group of people and whether secondary infections occurred in the study process or not.

rola_heartUID：2778168

我也才写完这个。你写的很不错的样子，反驳和模板结合的比我强多了。。。我还是拍我自己吧。。

MercurySonUID：2765276

2# rola_heart
thanks