ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the potential impact of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in the patient selection process for heart transplantation, and a provocative testing ground for application of the law. It focuses on the crucial threshold questions concerning the applicability of Section 504 to heart transplantation practice. The chapter examines the applicability of the Age Discrimination Act's (ADA) provisions with respect to choosing heart transplant patients. Although some aspects of heart transplantation are in the experimental stages, a consistent pattern has emerged with respect to patient selection. A strict age criterion in patient selection may be exempt from the provisions of the ADA of 1975 if its use is necessary to "the achievement of any statutory objective" of a heart transplant program. The ADA and its prohibition against age discrimination are unlikely to seriously impede the use of a strict age criterion in patient selection for heart transplantation.
