Page 7 - Edition_517

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Doctor Appears In Court Video Call While Performing Surgery
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Medical Board of California said it would investigate a plastic surgeon who appeared in a videoconfer- ence 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 pan- demic, 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 back- ground.
“Hello, Mr. Green? Hi. Are you available for trial?” asked a courtroom clerk as an officer sum- moned to appear
in trial raised her eyebrows. “It kind of looks like you’re in an oper- ating 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 remind- ed Green the pro- ceedings were being livestreamed because traffic tri-
als are required by law to be open to the public, and Green said he understood. He appeared to con- tinue 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 con-
cern for the wel- fare of the patient.
“I have another surgeon right here who’s doing the surgery with me,soIcan 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 circum- stances. He told Green he’d rather set a new date for
trial “when you’re not actively involved or partic- ipating and attending to the needs of a patient.”
Green apolo- gized. “Sometimes, sur- gery doesn’t always go as,” he said before the judge interrupted him.
“It happens. We want to keep peo- ple healthy, we want to keep
them alive. That’s important,” Link said.
The board said it would look into the incident, say- ing it “expects physicians to fol- low the standard of care when treating their patients.”
A call seeking comment from Green has not been returned.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine