An Intern Attends a Local Dinner Party and Recognizes a Colleague

An intern attends a local dinner party and recognizes a colleague who works at the same hospital in another department.  During the course of the evening, she observes her colleague responding to a number of routine medical calls from the hospital and consuming several alcoholic drinks.  Later that evening, the physician notices that her colleague is giving medication orders over the phone and appears grossly intoxicated with slurred speech.  The physician confronts her colleague, asking him to transfer on-call responsibilities for the sake of patient care.  He insists that he is fine, is not drunk, and that his duties end in 30 minutes anyway.  Which of the following is the most appropriate course of action?

A) Contact the colleague's on-call supervisor to report the problem now
B) Do not intervene as the colleague has already been confronted and the shift ends soon
C) Do not intervene as there is no clear evidence of patient harm
D) Do not intervene as this is the first instance of witnessing impaired behavior
E) Report the incident to the hospital's physician health program
F) Report the physician to the state medical board

Correct Answer:

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