Surgeon Appears In California Traffic Court Video While Operating On A Patient

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The Medical Board of California said it will be investigating a plastic surgeon who appeared in a videoconference for his traffic violation trial while operating on a patient.

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 let Green know that the proceedings were being livestreamed because traffic trials are required by law to be open to the public. Green said he understood and continued on with the surgery.

When the Judge saw Green was performing surgery while in traffic court — he hesitated to go on with the trial — due to the well being of the paitent.

“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.”