A California-based surgeon Dr. Scott Green is now facing an investigation when caught crossing the limits of multitasking after a video of him, appearing before a traffic court through a videoconference while performing a surgery went viral over social media.
As per the sources, Dr. Green was expected to appear for his Superior Court trial for violating the traffic rules. He dialed into his virtual trial while performing a surgery. He was wearing scrubs and a face mask. Machines beeping at the back can also be heard during Green’s traffic trial on Zoom. The trial was live-streamed and posted to YouTube.
A courtroom clerk asked Dr. Green, “Are you available for trial? It kind of looks like you’re in an operating room right now.”
To which, he replied, “I am, sir. Yes, I’m in an operating room right now. I’m available for trial. Go right ahead.”
Then, the clerk informed Dr. Green that this trial will be live-streamed and will be posted on YouTube because traffic trials are required by law to be open to the public.
He replied that he understood and continued to perform the surgery with his head down while waiting for Court Commissioner Gary Link to join the Zoom call.
Within a few minutes Link appeared and expressed his hesitation to carry on the trial out of concern for the welfare of the patient.
Dr. Green, then, asked the judge to proceed with the trial and 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.”
The judge stated that as per him, it is not appropriate to conduct the trial under such circumstances and he’d rather schedule a new date “when you’re not actively involved or participating and attending to the needs of a patient”.
Dr. Green interrupted, Sometimes, surgery doesn’t always go as.”
To which judge replied, “It happens. We want to keep people healthy, we want to keep them alive. That’s important.”
Taking note of the viral video, a medical and licensing agency in California stated that it is going to investigate the incident. “The Medical Board of California expects physicians to follow the standard of care when treating their patients,” said the agency spokesperson.
The trial has been rescheduled to March 4.
