Anthony Stokes, a 15-year-old Georgia teenager, was denied a heart transplant from Children's Healthcare of Atlanta due to "noncompliance," The New York Daily News reported.
Stokes suffers from an enlarged heart and has one year to live without a transplant.
Doctors from the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta said that behavioral issues have left them no choice but to cross him off the list. Citing that Stokes failed to regularly take medication in the past, his "noncompliance" rules a transplant out.
In a letter to the Stokes family, specialists said, "the decision was made that Anthony is currently not a transplant candidate due to having a history of noncompliance, which is one of our center's contraindications to listing for heart transplant."
Doctors believe because Stokes did not take his medication properly in the past, he might not take the necessary steps to recover after the surgery -- steps that are essential for the transplant to work.
His family and civil rights group deny the doctors' claim and say that it's his low school grades and criminal history that are really behind their decision.
"He's been given a death sentence because of a broad and vague excuse of noncompliance," said Christine Young Brown of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. "There was nothing specific in that decision. Just noncompliance."
Mack Major, a family friend, told WSBTV, "The noncompliance is fabricating, because they don't want to give him a heart. This is unacceptable because he must lose his life because of a noncompliance."
Patty Gregory, a spokesperson for the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, responded to claims from the Stokes family and civil rights groups.
"The well-being of our patients is always our first priority," she said. "We are continuing to work with the family and are looking at all the options. We follow very specific criteria in determining eligibility for a transplant of any kind."
There is currently an online petition protesting for Stokes to receive a transplant.
