Surgeon joins court trial from operating room via Zoom

Scott Green appeared before Sacramento Superior Court Commissioner Gary Link’s virtual courtroom at Carol Miller Justice Center, donning his surgical scrubs, ready to proceed.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Close up of female doctor holding syringe with injection (iilustrative) (photo credit: ING IMAGE/ASAP)
Close up of female doctor holding syringe with injection (iilustrative)
(photo credit: ING IMAGE/ASAP)
A Northern California plastic surgeon was in the middle of an operation when he showed up for his traffic trial Thursday afternoon via video conference, to the surprise of the Sacramento judge in charge of the case, news site sacbee.com reported.
“Hello, Mr. Green? Are you available for trial?” asked a surprised courtroom clerk. “It kind of looks like you’re in an operating room right now. ”
To what Green answered that he was actually in an operating room at the very moment of the videoconference, continuing his work, with the patient undergoing the procedure out of view of the camera.
Green wasn’t fazed by the situation, the head down working on his patient, but Link wasn’t amused even as the commissioner tried to absorb what he was seeing on his monitor.
Scott Green appeared before Sacramento Superior Court Commissioner Gary Link’s virtual courtroom at Carol Miller Justice Center, donning his surgical scrubs, ready to proceed.
With limited access to courtrooms due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Sacramento Superior Court proceedings are livestreamed and posted to YouTube as traffic trial hearings are required by law to be open to the public.
“So 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. Is that correct, Mr. Green? Or should I say Dr. Green?” Link asked over the sounds of suction and the beep-beep of medical devices.
“I do not feel comfortable for the welfare of a patient if you’re in the process of operating that I would put on a trial notwithstanding the fact the officer is here today,” the commissioner said.
Green assured Link that all was well. Another surgeon was working beside him, he said.
“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.
“I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Link said. “I’m going to come up with a different date — when you’re not actively involved or participating and attending to the needs of a patient. Let me see if I can get a different date here.”
That brought an apology from the still-working doc.
“I apologize Your Honor, to the court. Sometimes, surgery doesn’t always go as...”
But he couldn't finish what he was going to say as Link interrupted him: “It happens. We want to keep people healthy, we want to keep them alive. That’s important.”
“I’m concerned about the welfare of the patient based on what I’m seeing,” the commissioner said, before assigning Green a new March court date.
Green assured Commissioner Link that it would.
The Medical Board of California in a statement Friday said it would look into the incident saying it “expects physicians to follow the standard of care when treating their patients.”


Related Tags
Surgery
Zoom