The premature discharge of patient's from an emergency room or urgent care center (without a referral to an ER) can have devastating consequences ranging from permanent disability to death. Examples include, failure to rule out a blocked coronary artery or heart attack, failure to rule out a stroke or transient ischemic attack, failure to rule out an infection in an organ or joint,etc. As for urgent care centers—it is their responsibility to recognize when a referral to an emergency room is necessary since they lack the staff and facilities to properly investigate life threatening conditions.

For more information read the links below to my related blog posts.

ER Doctor/Hospital Must Stand Trial Even Though Patient Left Hospital Against Medical Advice

Patient of ER Doctor Found to be Entitled to a Retrial of his Malpractice Case