Doctors are often faced with difficult decisions regarding life and death, but what happens when those decisions are based purely upon their perception of you as a person?

One young man in America has found this out to his detriment after having been denied a life-saving heart transplant because of low grades and previous trouble with police.

Fifteen year-old Anthony Stokes was told  by doctors he does not qualify for a new organ due to a “history of non-compliance”. The report was originally broken by WSBTV.

His mother, Melencia Hamilton, said: “They said they don’t have any evidence that he would not take his medicine or that he would not go to his follow-ups.”

Anthony’s case has been taken up by civil rights groups who say the decision amounts to a death sentence.

Christine Young Brown of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference said: “He’s been given a death sentence because of a broad and vague excuse of non-compliance.”

The hospital treating Anthony, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in Egleston attempted to defend its stance in an interview with ABC News. A spokesperson for the hospital said: “The well-being of our patients is always our first priority. We follow very specific criteria in determining eligibility for a transplant of any kind.”

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