Doctor Accused Of Racism After Insulting Patient For Not Speaking English

A California doctor is getting slammed after a heated argument between him and a patient's family went viral. The patient’s family said the doctor criticized them for speaking in Spanish and not knowing English.

Yuset Galura, along with her daughter, accompanied her 67-year-old mother, Maria Ramirez, to her heart appointment in San Bernardino’s Pulse Cardiology last Thursday where the argument with Dr. Paul Ryan allegedly occurred.

“As 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,” Galura told KTLA on Monday.

Felicia Simpson, the granddaughter of the patient, captured the argument on her cell phone and posted the video on Facebook with the caption, “It’s one thing if he didn’t want the medical information to get all mixed up if my mom translated to my grandma, but that wasn’t the case … his ONLY issue was that my grandma doesn’t speak ‘his’ language.”

In the viral video, Galura is seen telling the doctor, “You don’t need to do nothing, but to tell me what’s wrong with her, if she’s OK, if she’s not … then I’ll translate to my mother. You don’t need to tell me that she needs to learn English so you can communicate. Communicate through me and I’ll let her know.”

“It’s not the same,” the doctor responds.

The video also got numerous comments by other people claiming similar experiences with the doctor.

The family protested outside the clinic Monday to warn other patients about his alleged treatment of Latinos.

“I want to unmask the doctor. If you don’t 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,” Galura said.

Ryan's clinic issued a statement Monday saying, "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 Empire’s premier cardiology practice, Pulse has proudly served all patients regardless of nationality with a diverse staff that is fluent in several languages, including Spanish."

Galura said she hasn't received the results from the heart test as of Monday.

In a similar incident in June, a teen who allegedly hit a man with his truck on United States Highway 171, called him a racial slur online after the incident. While using a laughing emoticon on Snapchat, 18- year-old Matthew Martin, said the man died on the way to the hospital. The teen also posted a video of the dented truck with the caption, “Y'all I just hit a whole guy on the highway.”