A patent for a method or process, comparable to a patent for a product or device. Under current patent law (1995) it is possible for a medical or surgical method or process to be patented, and for the patent holder to require the payment of royalties for use of the method. A surgeon in Arizona, for example, holds a patent on a “stitchless” technique used in cataract surgery, and is seeking to collect royalties from more than 2,000 ophthalmologists using the procedure. Other procedures for which patents have been obtained include one for determining the gender of a fetus by ultrasound methods and using injections of vasodilators to treat male impotence. The American Medical Association (AMA) has taken a stand against the patenting practice, and federal legislation has been introduced (1995) to ban the practice.