Doctors Get Drunk Before Emergency Call

Nov. 19, 2010— -- It's midmorning at a busy suburban restaurant. You're enjoying a meal and catching up with friends when suddenly you notice something out of the ordinary -- doctors in full uniform getting drunk at the next table.

They joke about being on call.

"Let's do shots! We're only on call four more hours!" one of them shouts.

But could they be serious? Drink after drink, they become louder and louder. Doctors just unwinding after a long day? Maybe, but what happens when they get that emergency call to go back to the operating room?

Though sensationalized in hit shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost," doctors showing up to surgery drunk is all too real: In Elyria, Ohio, a prominent local orthopedic surgeon had his medical license suspended in January after admitting to drinking on the job, among other indiscretions. The following month, a Denver anesthesiologist was suspended after co-workers reportedly accused him of treating patients after consuming alcohol.

So we wondered, what would you do if you saw doctors getting drunk before surgery? Would you confront them directly? Call a manager? Call the police? We rigged Black Bear Saloon in South Norwalk, Conn., with our hidden cameras to find out.

We hire actresses Traci Hovel and Dawn Yanek to play our drunken surgeons. They start throwing back shot after shot in order to "unwind" during their long shift. As nearby customers notice their excessive drinking, our doctors get a call: Code blue -- back to the ER.

"The problem is we have to go back, so drink it up because I'm not wasting all this. You're on my team. I can't be brought down by you" says Hovel. Yanek clearly has reservations about going back to the ER but gets no help or support from nearby customers.

Close by, a family watches in horror as they listen to Hovel and Yanek talk about performing surgery after they've had too much to drink.

"Sir, we've got to go! We've got to do a surgery!" Hovel says to a manager.