Medtronic settles patent fight

This is an interesting debate going on. How do you feel about patents and would you agree that this story and Medtronic is creating a medical monopoly? After this deal is settled a transfer of ownership to Medtronic of all inventions related to the diagnosis and treatment of the spine will be mandatory. My main concern is this limits what is avaliable to the consumer and will continue to keep prices inflated. What do you think about medical patents and how this settlement has been handled?