SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Medical Board said it would investigate a plastic surgeon who appeared in a videoconference for his traffic violation trial while operating, according to reports.
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, KTLA reported. Green acknowledged the question and said he understood. Moreover, 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.
However, the judge thought differently and said he didn’t think it was appropriate to conduct trial under the circumstances, according to KTLA. Therefore, 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.”
“Sometimes, surgery doesn’t always go as,” Green 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 Medical Board said it would look into the incident, saying it “expects physicians to follow the standard of care when treating their patients.”
Last year an Alaska dentist who extracted a patient’s tooth while riding a hoverboard was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his reckless stunt along with 46 other crimes, Law Officer reported, which included Medicaid fraud and removing a patient’s teeth without permission.
