Dying Teen Is Being Denied A Heart Transplant Because He’s Had Trouble With The Law

[Yo_Mama]

30. Teenageers often don't

Because of that, they tend to have much worse outcomes.

Of course, you don't say to a kid "we won't give you an organ because you won't comply because you are a teenager", after all, some teenagers do, but these programs do evaluate prospective recipients for the ability and willingness to comply with the necessary routine, which includes following all sorts of instructions, going to all your followups, and staying on the medications, which can have nasty side effects.

You can be rejected for a transplant because of all sorts of behaviors, such as smoking, drug use, being too fat, or just having a history of not following your doctor's orders or showing up for appointments. There are attempts underway to figure out how to improve compliance in teens, because it's a known problem:
http://www.chop.edu/service/transplant-center/pediatric-transplant-research/adolescent-adherence-research.html

Now I have no idea whether this poor kid would in fact take the medications at the times necessary and go through the necessary medical harassment. But if it appears that you have an uncooperative patient, it is not unreasonable to conclude that transplantation has little chance of success.