Doctor appears in court video call while performing surgery

Zoomification has definitely reached new levels. There’s the now-legendary video of a Texas attorney who logged into a virtual hearing in early February only to have a cat filter be superimposed over his face for 42 seconds.

And now there’s the story of Dr. Scott Green, a plastic surgeon in California, who appeared for his Sacramento Superior Court traffic violation hearing, held virtually because of the pandemic, from an operating room, the Sacramento Bee reported. He was in surgical scrubs with a patient undergoing the procedure just out of view.

The court clerk reminded Green the proceedings were being livestreamed because traffic trials are required by law to be open to the public, and Green said he understood.

When Court Commissioner Gary Link appeared and saw the doctor on the screen, the judge hesitated to proceed out of concern for the patient.

“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 said.

The judge said he didn’t think it was appropriate to conduct the trial under the circumstances. He told Green he’d rather set a new date for trial “when you’re not actively involved or participating and attending to the needs of a patient.”

Green apologized. The Associated Press could not reach him for further comment.

The Medical Board of California said it would investigate the incident. ●