Price Discrimination in Medicine

The relationship between supply and demand for human bodily material is, moreover, a complex one. 'Demand' for material is inherently elastic: as scientific developments make more treatments possible, the demand for that treatment is likely to increase, and the development of alternatives may lead to more people overall being treated, rather than necessarily reducing demand. Wider public health factors in the population as a whole, such as high levels of obesity, diabetes, and alcohol consumption, play a key part in determining the demand for organs in particular, while the trend towards later motherhood increases the number of women who...