Patents loading ... are granted for 20 years, but pharmaceutical companies can't use their patent-guaranteed monopoly powers for anywhere near this long because it takes several years to acquire fda approval of drugs. suppose it is proposed that the life of drug patents be extended to 20 years after fda approval. what would be the costs and benefits of this extension?

In this case, Firms would be able to earn much higher profit for a much longer period of time which would benefit them greatly. The flip side of that is that consumers would lose in the end because the drug prices would be so high for so long that many would be unable to afford. In this scenario, firms would also be more likely to create new products that could benefit consumers by offering a wider ranges of medications.