Cardiologist Accused of Racism After Berating Patient For Speaking Spanish

A routine doctor's visit for a Southern California grandmother was anything but that after an argument broke out between her doctor and the patient's family over speaking Spanish. 

According to Yuset Galura, she brought her 67-year-old mother to Pulse Cardiology in San Bernardino for a heart appointment with Dr. Paul Ryan when the cardiologist lashed out at them after hearing them speak Spanish to each other. 

“I was shocked. Yeah. I couldn’t believe it,” daughter Yuset Galura told KTLA news. 

Galura said the cardiologist lashed out at her mother for asking him whether he spoke 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," said Galura. 

In video taken by Galura, Ryan can be heard telling the women: "I'm not offensive. I am an American, born here." 

Galura said she was taken aback by the doctor's tone and told him that he didn't need to speak to them like that.

“You don’t need to do nothing but tell me if something’s wrong with her," she says to him at one point during the video. "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."

Ryan dismisses her, saying  back, saying that it wasn't "the same." 

Galura later posted the video to Facebook with several other people claiming to have similar experiences with the doctor. According to Pulse Cardiology's Yelp page, physician Paul Ryan is mentioned in several negative reviews that say he is racist toward Mexicans.

“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.

Galura's mother, who is a U.S. citizen, has been in the country for 45 years, but does not speak English. Bridget Napoles, who was also present, wrote on Instagram that her grandmother has worked hard, paid her taxes. 

"She worked, she paid her taxes, she paid off her house so how does it affect anyone that she doesn’t speak english,’ Napoles wrote on Instagram. ‘My mom and i tag along to each of her appointments and no one has ever had an issue with it. And in those 45 years she has NEVER had someone come at her like this.’

Pulse Cardiology issued a statement on Monday, saying the clinic was conducting an independent investigation into the incident.

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."



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