Read this passage from a rhetorical text. (1) Among many serious problems currently afflicting the US healthcare system, the direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs may seem like a harmless practice. (2) Yet there are good reasons to be wary of allowing drug manufacturers to pitch their products directly to consumers. (3) In fact, the American Medical Association was so concerned about misinformation that it called for a ban on these ads. (4) Yet the ads continue today. (5) The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does require drug ads to meet certain criteria including disclosing a brief summary of the risks associated with taking a drug, but the government must go further and ban such advertisements altogether. (6) The safety of American consumers is at stake.

Which sentence states the writer’s thesis?

sentence 1
sentence 2
sentence 3
sentence 5