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Argument 54
The following appeared in a local newspaper.
"People should not be misled by the advertising competition between Coldex and Cold-Away,
both popular over-the-counter cold medications that anyone can purchase without a doctor's
prescription. Each brand is accusing the other of causing some well-known, unwanted side
effect: Coldex is known to contribute to existing high blood pressure and Cold-Away is known
to cause drowsiness. But the choice should be clear for most health-conscious people:
Cold-Away has been on the market for much longer and is used by more hospitals than is
Coldex. Clearly, Cold-Away is more effective."
This argument concludes that Cold-Away is a more effective non-prescription cold
medication than Coldex. The argument points out that each one has a distinct unwanted side
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effect: Cold-Away causes drowsiness, while Coldex contributes to existing high blood pressure.
To support its conclusion, the argument points out that Cold-Away has been on the market
considerably longer, and that it is used by more hospitals than Coldex. I find the argument
unconvincing for three reasons.
First, the mere fact that Cold-Away has been on the market longer than Coldex is scant
evidence of their comparative effectiveness. Well-established products are not necessarily
better than newer ones. Moreover, in my observation newer medicines often make use of
newer pharmaceutical developments than competing products; thus it can be argued that
since Cold-Away has been on the market longer than Coldex it is likely to be less, not more,
effective than Coldex.
Secondly, the argument unfairly assumes that hospitals prefer Cold-Away because of its
comparative effectiveness as a cold medication. It is entirely possible that hospitals do not
consider drowsiness an undesirable side effect for their patients. For that matter, perhaps
hospitals use Cold-Away primarily for this effect rather than as a cold medication.
A third problem with the argument involves Coldex's side effect: high blood pressure.
Admittedly, people who already have a serious blood pressure problem would probably be well
advised to use Cold-Away instead. However, only those people are susceptible to this side
effect. Thus for all other people the vast majority of cold-medicine users--Coldex's side effect
is irrelevant in choosing between the two products. Moreover, if a person without high blood
pressure wishes to avoid drowsiness, Coldex would seem to be the preferable medication.
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