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ARGUMENT51 - The following appeared in a medical newsletter.

"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."



In this argument, whether the antibioticswill be effective for shortening the time for patients' recuperation time frommuscle strain is one critical aspect that determines the evaluation of itswarranty. However, the arguer, although makes it a core premise, does notpresent persuasive evidence to support it. Even though an apparent reasonablecontrast is applied to convince us, this contrast fails in some aspect;moreover, the final suggestion and advice for patients is also problematic whenthe argument generalizes the use of antibiotics to all patients.

The most salient premise, and also anunwarranted one, is that the therapy of providing patients with antibiotics isefficacious for muscle strain. Certainly, the arguer has provided his reason: acontrastive research of this therapy proves its effect. Two problems reside inthis research.

Firstly, we cannot identify whether the twodoctors participated in this research provide the same treatment to two groupsof patients, especially after we are informed that these two doctors are out ofdifferent background in medicine. Perhaps, the doctor who treat patients withantibiotics at the same time, provide helpful auxiliary treatment to this groupof patients by making use of his specialty at sports medicine. While anothergroup of people, unfortunately, are treated with nothing but a placebo. Becausethere is possibility that the antibiotics does not functioned, we cannot arriveat the conclusion that it is the antibiotics that help shorten the period ofrecuperation.

Another problem of this contrast researchis that patients joined in this research may suffer from different forms ofmuscle injuries, which react differently to antibiotics. Maybe the group ofpatients which experience a significant shortening of recuperation time have akind of strain sensitive to this antibiotics; but another group do not. Basedon this possibility, it is imprudent to say antibiotics will be universallyeffective to assist the treatment of muscle strain.

Moreover, the arguer too hastily make afurther generalization that all patients, regardless of their ages, gender,ethnicity, and the severity of their muscle strain, will equally enjoy thebenefit of this treatment. Possibly, the research has been operated only withinthe patients in a certain age group; however, this treatment does not workeffectively in other age groups. If so, the over-generalization suggested bythe arguer is hazardous in that it may overlook the unidentified side effectsof this treatment in groups of people who are not represented in this research.

In the final analysis, this apparentlyreasonable argument suffers from several logic problems. To make it moreconvincing, the arguer should present more details of the contrast research,both in the aspects of the participants, and the doctors. Through the specifictreatments provided two the two group of patients, we can identify whetherantibiotics is genuinely effective to treat muscle strain. Finally, the arguershould provide further materials to convince us all groups of people,regardless of their different backgrounds, such as the seriousness of theirstrain, their ages, will react equally excellent to this antibiotics treatment.