I actually like some of my noncompliant patients, smokers and all, and I want to help them in whatever way they permit me to. There's always the chance that they will turn around with my help, or some life-changing experience. Just had a lady finally accept cholesterol meds after her sister had a devastating stroke.
And there are people who, for want of a scientific explanation, just have bad genes. We all have very smart, motivated and compliant folks with a bad BP or HbA1c, despite multiple meds and lifestyle changes. We used to call them "outliers", and keep trying aggressively and reduce other risks to compensate. Now they are just "liabilities".
