Patents can have both positive and negative effects on patients. On the positive side, patents can lead to the development of new and effective treatments that would not have been possible without the financial incentive provided by patent protection. On the negative side, the cost of patented drugs can be prohibitively high, making them inaccessible to some patients. There is also the issue of evergreening, where minor modifications are made to a drug to extend its patent life, thus delaying the availability of cheaper generic versions.
