Santa Fe New Mexican

Doctor does surgery during court video call

Medical Board of California says it will investigat­e surgeon who operated during trial for traffic ticket

-

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Medical Board of California said it would investigat­e a plastic surgeon who appeared in a videoconfe­rence for his traffic violation trial while operating.

The Sacramento Bee reports Dr. Scott Green appeared Thursday for his Sacramento Superior Court trial, held virtually because of the coronaviru­s pandemic, from an operating room. He was dressed in surgical scrubs with a patient undergoing the procedure just out of view; the beeps of medical machinery can be heard in the background.

“Hello, Mr. Green? Hi. Are you available for trial?” asked a courtroom clerk as an officer summoned to appear in trial raised her eyebrows. “It kind of looks like you’re in an operating room right now?”

“I am, sir,” Green replied. “Yes, I’m in an operating room right now. Yes, I’m available for trial. Go right ahead.”

The 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. He appeared to continue working with his head down while waiting for Court Commission­er Gary Link to enter the chamber.

When Link appeared and saw the doctor on the screen, the judge hesitated to proceed with the trial out of concern for the welfare of 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 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. “Sometimes, surgery doesn’t always go as,” he said before the judge interrupte­d him.

“It happens. We want to keep people healthy, we want to keep them alive. That’s important,” Link said.

The board said it would look into the incident, saying it “expects physicians to follow the standard of care when treating their patients.”

A call seeking comment from Green was not returned.

 ?? SACRAMENTO BEE ?? Captured video shows Dr. Scott Green appearing via Zoom on Thursday in Sacramento, Calif., Superior Court. The beeps of medical equipment can be heard in the background on the video.
SACRAMENTO BEE Captured video shows Dr. Scott Green appearing via Zoom on Thursday in Sacramento, Calif., Superior Court. The beeps of medical equipment can be heard in the background on the video.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States