Cardiologist went on racist rant against Spanish-speaking patient: family
A California doctor is getting slammed on Yelp after the family of a Spanish-speaking patient accused him of spewing a racist rant.
Yuset Galura was accompanying her 67-year-old mother, Maria Ramirez, to her heart appointment at Pulse Cardiology in San Bernardino on Thursday when Dr. Paul Ryan started criticizing Ramirez for speaking Spanish.
“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.
Galura recorded the aftermath of the incident on her cellphone.
“You don’t need to do nothing but tell me if something’s wrong with her. If she’s OK, if not, then I’ll translate to my mother. You don’t need to tell me that she needs to learn English,” Galura is heard saying to Ryan in the video, which she later shared on Facebook.
“It’s not the same,” Ryan says in reply.
Galura says she hopes sharing the video will “unmask the doctor,” who she thinks has no business working in medicine.
“If you don’t like being around Mexicans, Latinos, Hispanic, or any other race other than what your race is, then you have any room in the medical field,” Galura told KTLA.
Scores of people have since visited Pulse Cardiology’s Yelp page to post their own negative experiences with Ryan as well as to express their outrage over the video and accuse the doctor of racism.
Pulse Cardiology said Ryan isn’t currently treating patients while they investigate the incident.
“The reported incident does not reflect the values of Pulse physicians, assistants and administrators,” the practice said in a statement Monday. “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 and her mother protested outside Pulse cardiology’s office Monday. Galura says her mom still hasn’t received the results of her appointment.