Doctor Appears in Court Via Zoom Call from Operating Room

A California doctor freaked out at least one judge and has caught the attention of investigators after making a virtual court appearance from an operating room where a patient was undergoing surgery. Dr. Scott Green appeared Thursday for his Sacramento Superior Court virtual trial dressed in surgical scrubs, the Sacramento Bee reports. “Yes, I’m in an operating room right now. Yes, I’m available for trial. Go right ahead," Green told a perplexed traffic court clerk while appearing to continue working with his head down while waiting for Court Commissioner Gary Link to enter the chamber, per the AP. When he saw the doctor on the screen, the judge hesitated to proceed with the trial out of concern for 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. Link disagreed and suggested finding a new trial date, prompting Green to apologize. “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. Meanwhile, the Medical Board of California said in a statement Friday it would look into the incident, saying it “expects physicians to follow the standard of care when treating their patients.” (More Zoom stories.)