Cheap drugs – answers

1 "I’m making a considered choice."
2 Yes and no; the PCT’s responsibility is to decide how best to run a service, and that includes managing the finances. Newspaper articles often give polarised points of view to add drama to the reporting. The statement at the end of the article makes it clear the Trust is keen for drugs to be prescribed which are effective, but at the same time are aware that some generic drugs are much cheaper than branded ones. The aim of the PCT managers is at variance with that of doctors’ priorities and experience – they deal with a different aspect of the practices of medicine. Dr Gowing states that some of the PCT’s advice is absurd – farcical, implying that they do not grasp fully the implications of some of their suggestions.
3 Only by recognising that her Christian name (first name) is a woman’s – the word ‘spokesman‘ and spokesperson are both non gender-specific, so can apply to a man or a woman. The gender-specific version is in common use – spokesman / spokeswoman, plural spokesmen / spokeswomen
spokesman and spokesperson are non gender-specific – plural spokesmen / spokespersons / spokespeople
4 to be on a drug = to be taking a drug as in ‘My patient had been on atorvastatin for a few years.’
to be put on a drug = to have a drug prescribed
NB At social events you may hear someone offering a person another drink, and the question may be ‘What are you on?’ = informal = ‘What are you drinking?’ People often prefer to drink only soft drinks, or only beer rather than mix their drinks – an answer could be ‘ I’m on Black Sheep beer’ or ‘ I’m on orange juice’.
5 The way he prioritises his patient’s needs over anything else suggests he is a caring GP. The criteria according to which he chooses medicines for his patients show he opts first for the drugs which will affect his patient’s health least (with the least side-effects), then considers what the patient can actually take most easily; he takes cost into account as a last consideration. The fact that he is challenging the terms of prescribing drugs suggests he is keen to promote this patient’s health.
6 It lacks a verb, which is typical of a newspaper or magazine headline – in full it would be "Cheap drugs are putting patients’ lives at risk."
NB Sometimes the brevity and shorthand of headlines can be misleading. Words can be used to save space and create impact – for example, ‘slam‘-informal– is used to replace ‘criticise‘, or ‘out‘ can be short for ‘sent off temporarily after a minor incident‘ which might be less newsworthy. ‘Cleared‘ means ‘declared officially innocent‘, and this often substitutes ‘acquitted‘ which means a person has not been found innocent, but there has been insufficient evidence to find the person guilty. In the article the word ‘force’ implies heavy pressure, which may or may not be true – it may simply mean ‘ persuade, urge, or encourage’.
7 All of the words are typical informal vocabulary used in the media (and in other fields) for the sake of appearing up-to-date and for brevity. They are a kind of journalistic or media shorthand.
cash-strapped could be re-phrased as ‘which are short of funds or finances‘ or ‘which are strapped for funds / finance‘ but as these are longer than ‘cash-strapped’ the latter is used. Cash is used incorrectly, because it means money when funds / funding / finance(s) / investment(s) / might be more accurate.
bosses – familiar – people in charge of organisations – heads of companies, for instance. It is a word used loosely substituting titles such as chairman / company director / manager or government official. Another such word is ‘chief‘, used in the same way, rather than as a ruler or leader.