I'm a UAL pilot and my friends/neighbors shared this story with me....I thought I would throw it out there for some perspective....

Family of 4 traveling out of PHX on Southwest....the flight attendant decided to remove their nine year old daughter because she didn't look well... Her mom admitted that she had been ill and thrown up earlier in the day. Dad and son remained on the plane leaving mom and daughter behind....(this was the last flight of the day necessitating a hotel room)...Mom was told that a medical clearance would be required to fly....So, mom is told to take her into the airport walk-in clinic. An hour after the flight she was supposed to be on has departed she has a medical clearance for her daughter in hand. Cost $150. Since there are no flights available that evening they stay at an airport hotel and next morning get on the first available flight. When they check in for the flight the next morning there is no mention of, or request for a medical clearance.

So far they have made no requests for reimbursement and it seems they handled the situation in a very low key cooperative manner.
I know over the years I have seen some pretty feeble individuals board my aircraft and the idea of questioning someone's health and sending them for a medical clearance seems entirely foreign to me. Is this something that could be considered policy at Southwest ...? Or does it sound more like rogue decision making by a select few...?

Thanks for any input you might provide....