A plastic surgeon in Northern California went viral over the weekend after video surfaced showing the doctor in traffic court via Zoom while a patient was on his operating table. Dr. Scott Green, who appeared in court by videochat dressed in mask and operating gown, confirmed he was in surgery but insisted he could do both at the same time.
“Hello, Mr. Green? Are you available for trial? It kind of looks like you’re in an operating room right now,” a courtroom clerk asked Dr. Green in the video, which was livestreamed over YouTube on Feb. 25.
“I am, sir. I’m in an operating room. I’m available for trial. Go right ahead,” Dr. Green responded.
The Sacramento Bee, which was the first news outlet to report the bizarre Zoom interaction, notes that Dr. Green put his head down and continued with what he was doing as machines in the operating room beeped and whirred.
But the judge, Sacramento Superior Court Commissioner Gary Link, clearly couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“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 said.
Green said he had another doctor with him in the room and that it was fine, but the judge explained that it wasn’t appropriate and that the hearing would need to be rescheduled for a later date.
Traffic court proceedings are required by law to take place in public in Sacramento, which means that these types of cases have been held over Zoom since the coronavirus pandemic began roughly a year ago. But this is definitely the first one where a doctor has been actively operating on a patient.
Green’s reviews on Yelp took quite a trolling over the weekend, with some people clearly poking fun at the Zoom incident. The reviews are even showing up on Green’s official page because he has a plugin that displays his positive Yelp reviews.
Dr. Green was able to augment my breasts, lift my face, attend court via Zoom, spay and neuter all my pets and do my taxes, all at the same time. I am so impressed! Thank you Dr. Green!
Green also has a YouTube video on his website where he talks about his life and some of his rather peculiar life choices — such as naming his five children after different shades of the colour green since his name is Scott Green. The doctor calls himself a “joker” before giving the names of his kids.
It’s still not clear why Green decided that it was a good idea to conduct surgery while appearing in traffic court. It’s also unclear what type of traffic infraction Green allegedly committed.
Dr. Green did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Monday, but online records held by the state of California show he received his medical degree from the Texas A&M University College of Medicine in 1995 and his licence with the Medical Board of California is up to date. The Sacramento Bee notes that the medical board has opened an investigation into the incident.
We’ll update this post if we hear back from the Zoom Doc.