Faced with one of the worst dengue epidemics it has

seen, this year the Tamil Nadu government responded by freely distributing a herbal concoction, nilavembu kudineer, recommended for fevers under the ancient Siddha system of medicine. Even though there is no evidence of their efficacy, alternative remedies such as papaya-leaf juice for dengue find many takers during epidemics. ________________________. Yet, there are growing instances of exactly this happening. For example, last year the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research launched an anti-diabetic herbal pill called BGR-34 on the strength of what appeared to be very poor evidence. In each of the following questions a short passage is given with one of the lines in the passage missing and represented by a blank. Select the best out of the five choices given to make the passage complete and coherent (Coherent means logically complete and sound)

A This exercise requires not only massive financial investment but also intellectual honesty.

B This is because the science of developing drugs from medicinal plants is complicated.

C But innumerable other herbal remedies also show such early promise.

D While it is hard for government bodies to curb such practices, what they must never do is to endorse them.

E Sadly, only a tiny handful of these remedies go on to prove their efficacy in large-scale, placebo-controlled human trials, the gold standard of modern medicine.

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Faced with one of the worst dengue epidemics it has

Solution