Dr. Scott Green Sacramento plastic surgeon attends virtual court while performing surgery investigated after judge expresses concern for patient in operating table via video.
What was one California doctor thinking? A plastic surgeon has caused disconcert after attended a virtual traffic court hearing over Zoom while performing surgery on a patient from an operating room.
The ‘incident’ has since led to the California Medical Board investigating the episode following the emergence of video of the ‘bizarre moment’ Dr. Scott Green appeared on video call from the operating theater on Thursday.
Green appeared before Sacramento Superior Court Commissioner Gary Link’s virtual traffic courtroom in his surgical scrubs with the beeping of surgical machines behind him.
‘Are you available for trial, it kind of looks like you’re in an operating room right now?’ a clerk of the court asks in the video posted by The Sacramento Bee.
‘I am sir,’ Green replies without skipping a beat. ‘Yes, I am available for trial.’
‘Are you actively performing surgery on a patient by any chance?’
All the while, doctors and medical equipment can be seen in the background of Green’s video.
Once the judge appears and the proceedings begin, Link quickly realizes where Green is standing.
‘So, unless I’m mistaken, I’m seeing a defendant that’s in the middle of an operating room appearing to be actively engaged in providing services to a patient. Is that correct, Mr. Green?’
‘Yes, sir,’ Green responds, as the commissioner notes he should be referring to the defendant as ‘Dr. Green.’
‘I do not feel comfortable for the welfare of a patient if you’re in the process of operating on that I would put on a trial notwithstanding the fact the officer is here today,’ Link continues, noting the officer from Green’s alleged traffic incident is present.
‘I have another surgeon right here who’s doing the surgery with me, so I can stand here and allow them to do the surgery also,’ Green says.
Link quickly replies, ‘Not at all.’
‘I don’t think that’s appropriate’
He continues, ‘I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s appropriate. I’m going to come up with a different date when you’re not actively involved or participating and attending to the needs of a patient. Let me see if I can get a different date here.’
‘I apologize Your Honor to the court,’ Green says. ‘Sometimes surgery doesn’t always go as…’ before he trails off.
‘It happens,’ Link says. ‘We want to keep people healthy. We want to keep them alive, that’s important.’
‘I’m concerned about the welfare of the patient based on what I’m seeing,’ Link says as he tries to confirm a rescheduled court date of March 4 at 3pm.
Someone else temporarily commandeers Green’s phone before they give it back to he can finish the court process in a breakout room.
The video was streamed live on the Sacramento Superior Court’s YouTube page because traffic court proceedings are open to the public.
The bizarre incident did draw the ire of the Medical Board of California, which controls licensing in the state and suggested that they received a complaint.
‘The Medical Board of California expects physicians to follow the standard of care when treating their patients,’ a spokesperson said to Law & Crime.
‘The Board is aware of this incident and will be looking into it, as it does with all complaints it receives.’
The well being of the patient under the knife wasn’t immediately clear.
