The obligation to treat patients who are in need in an emergency setting IS a legal obligation in the US. If a patient is refused treatment at an emergency room, both the doctor and hospital can get gigantic fines. I don’t remember the max off hand, but it’s somewhere along the lines of $50,000 and $1.5 million, respectively. The law in question is EMTALA, or the emergency medical treatment and active labor act. A patient must receive stabilizing treatment, or be stabilized to the best of the hospital’s ability and transferred to appropriate care.
The obligation to treat patients who are in need in an emergency setting IS a legal obligation in the US. If a patient is refused treatment at an emergency room, both the doctor and hospital can get gigantic fines. I don’t remember the max off hand, but it’s somewhere along the lines of $50,000 and $1.5 million, respectively. The law in question is EMTALA, or the emergency medical treatment and active labor act. A patient must receive stabilizing treatment, or be stabilized to the best of the hospital’s ability and transferred to appropriate care.