Is it reasonable for hospitals to charge patent fees for patients' surgery?

Whether it is reasonable or not involves the balance and consideration of many factors.

1. Intellectual property protection: If a hospital has a patent for a specific surgical technique, it has the legal right to protect its innovation and get a return from it. Collecting patent fees can be regarded as recognition of the hospital's innovative efforts and encourage the hospital to continue research and innovation.

2. Research cost: The hospital may invest a lot of resources and funds in the research and development of surgical technology. Collecting patent fees for surgery can help hospitals recover research costs and promote further research and development.

3. Medical expenses: charging patent fees for surgery may increase the burden on patients, especially those who need frequent surgery. This may lead to disputes over medical expenses and public doubts about the rationality of medical expenses.

4. Public interest: Medical care is a part of public interest. Therefore, some people think that hospitals should regard surgical techniques as public resources and should not charge patent fees for patients. They think hospitals should get returns through other channels, such as government grants or other channels.