Doctor accused of racism after 'insulting' patient about speaking Spanish
A California doctor is facing backlash after a heated argument between he and a patient's family went viral.
Yuset Galura told that she and her daughter accompanied Galuraās 67-year-old mother, Maria Ramirez, to her heart appointment inside San Bernardinoās Pulse Cardiology.
Galura said physician Paul Ryan lashed out at them for not speaking English.
āI was shocked. Yeah. I couldnāt believe it,ā Galura said. āAs soon as the doctor walked in the room, she asked him if he spoke Spanish and that was all it took for him to snap and start insulting her about speaking Spanish, being in this country and not knowing his language."
āYou donāt need to do nothing but tell me if somethingās wrong with her. If she's OK, if not, then Iāll translate to my mother. You donāt need to tell me that she needs to learn English,ā Galura is heard saying to Ryan in the video.
āItās not the same,ā the doctor can be heard responding in the footage.
Galuraās daughter posted the video on Facebook, where critics admonished Ryan and reported similar experiences with doctors.
Galura and relatives protested outside Ryan's clinic Monday to warn other patients about his alleged racist treatment of Latinos.
āI want to unmask the doctor. If you donāt like being around Mexicans, Latinos, Hispanic, or any other race other than what your race is, then you have no room in the medical field,ā Galura said.
Galura said that, for the record, she's a U.S. citizen.
Ryan's office, Pulse Cardiology, issued a statement Monday.
"Pulse Cardiology is conducting an independent investigation into the reported incident involving Dr. Ryan, who currently is not seeing patients at either of our clinics or St. Bernadine Medical Center. The reported incident does not reflect the values of Pulse physicians, assistants and administrators. Since its inception three years ago as the Inland Empireās premier cardiology practice, Pulse has proudly served all patients regardless of nationality with a diverse staff that is fluent in several languages, including Spanish."