San Bernardino doctor under fire for allegedly criticizing patient for not speaking English

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (FOX 11) - A San Bernardino doctor is being slammed on Yelp after he allegedly criticized his patient for speaking Spanish instead of English.

Part of the heated confrontation was captured on video.

Yuset Galura told news outlets that she and her daughter accompanied Galura's 67-year-old mother, Maria Ramirez, to her heart appointment at San Bernardino's Pulse Cardiology last week.

Video posted by Bridget Mayline on Instagram shows the argument between Ramirez's family and Dr. Paul Ryan, who started criticizing Ramirez for speaking Spanish, according to the family.

"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 news outlets.

"I'm right here to translate for her. You don't need to do nothing but tell me what's wrong with her. If she's okay, if not, then I'll translate to my mother," Galura is heard saying to Ryan in the video, which was also posted to Facebook and Twitter. "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 in the video.

Mayline wrote on Instagram that they later held a silent protest outside of the facility to warn others about the doctor's alleged racist treatment of Spanish-speaking patients.

Ramirez has lived here for 45 years, according to the post, and Galura told local news outlets that she is a U.S. citizen.

After the video was shared widely on social media, many have visited Pulse Cardiology's Yelp page to post a negative review in response to the video.

Ryan's office, Pulse Cardiology, has issued the following statement:

"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."

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