*In the latest headline-making Zoom court hearing appearances, a plastic surgeon tried to multitask by attending his traffic court trial via video as he operated on a patient.
The courtroom clerk was taken aback when Sacramento doctor Scott Green appeared virtually in scrubs and gloves, at times bowing his head to tend to the patient.
“Hello, Mr. Green? Are you available for trial?” the clerk asked, according to footage shared by The Sacramento Bee. “It kind of looks like you’re in an operating room right now?”
After affirming he was fine to proceed, Green explained: “Yes, I’m in an operating room right now. I’m available for trial. Go right ahead.”
Shortly after the Sacramento Superior Court Commissioner Gary Link entered the Zoom hearing, he called for a postponement, stating that he was uncomfortable with the idea that the doctor was attending the hearing while performing surgery.
“Unless I’m mistaken, I’m seeing a defendant that’s in the middle of an operating room appearing to be actively engaged in providing services to a patient,” he said. “Is that correct, Mr. Green?”
Green once again confirmed he was in the middle of a surgery, but that another doctor in the room was leading the patient’s operation at the moment.
“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 replied.
That didn’t sway the judge, who ended the hearing, citing the welfare of the patient.
“I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Link commented, noting that they would come up with a different date for when Green is “not actively involved or participating and attending to the needs of a patient.”
Green apologized for the incident, saying surgery timing doesn’t always go as planned.
Link concluded the hearing, saying, “It happens. We want to keep people healthy, we want to keep them alive. That’s important.”
After the video went viral, a medical and licensing agency in California said it would investigate.
Watch below:
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