PSRPhysiciansfor Social

Responsibility

A H i s t o r y o f A c c o m p l i s h m e n t s

A H i s t o r y o f A c c o m p l i s h m e n t s

PSR

INTRODUCT IO N 3

NUCLEAR D ISARMAMENT 4

ENV IRONM ENT & HEALT H 11

V IOLENCE PREVENT ION 17

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INSIDE COVER & ABOVE: PAPER LANTERNS FLOAT

DOWNSTREAM IN ONE OF DOZENS OF HIROSHIMA DAY

EVENTS ORGANIZED BY PSR CHAPTERS IN 1987 TO

COMMEMORATE THOSE WHO DIED AND TO REKINDLE HOPE

FOR A WORLD WITHOUT NUCLEAR ARMS.

2

PSR CO-FOUNDERS

(FROM LEFT) DRS.

H. JACK GEIGER,

VICTOR SIDEL, AND

SIDNEY ALEXANDER

POSE WITH THE

1985 NOBEL PEACE

PRIZE IN OSLO.

3

PSR began in 1961 with one major goal: to educate the medical profession

and the world about the dangers of nuclear weapons. We created an organiza-

tion that could be trusted to speak the truth and to serve as an credible resource

for all who cared about the survival of the planet. We grew into a

national organization with local and medical student chapters,

and became part of a global network of physicians groups,

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear

War (IPPNW), founded on PSR’s model. The efforts

of this campaign to reverse the nuclear arms race were

recognized in 1985 with the Nobel Prize for Peace.

Over the past decade, we have built on our record

of achievement by stalling nuclear warhead production

and winning a comprehensive ban on all nuclear tests. At

the same time, PSR’s mission has expanded to meet the

challenges that face us with the new century. Recognizing that other

dangers to human health now loom as large as the nuclear threat, we have

broadened our agenda to address global climate change, toxic pollution, and gun

violence. Our early victories include passing safe drinking water and pesticide

reform legislation and saving the ban on assault weapons.

PSR’s national leaders and local chapters now speak on behalf of 18,000

members, bringing a powerful and scientifically respected message to policy mak-

ers and the public. Our accomplishments over the last four decades—in public

and professional education, research, and national and international policy—

attest to the enduring effectiveness of PSR’s vision of physician activism.

CHRISTINE CASSEL,

MD, SHARES A

MOMENT WITH

CHICAGO MAYOR

HAROLD

WASHINGTON

AT PSR’S 1987

NATIONAL

MEETING.

MUSICIAN

GRAHAM NASH

JOINS PSR AND

IPPNW CO-

FOUNDER BERNARD

LOWN, MD, ON A

PANEL AT IPPNW’S

1988 WORLD

CONGRESS IN

MONTREAL.

4

Nuclear DisarmamentNew England Journal Articles

Within a year of the organization’sfounding, PSR physicians published aseries of articles in the New England Jour-nal of Medicine detailing the catastrophicconsequences of a thermonuclear warinvolving the US. The articles mappedout the potential human and ecological ef-fects of a nuclear blast and the inadequacyof any medical response, thus refutingthe government view that recovery froma massive nuclear attack was merely amatter of advance planning.

and for the Limited Test Ban Treaty, whichended above-ground nuclear tests by theUS, the USSR, and Britain in 1963.

The Bombing Runs

When nuclear stockpiles hit an all-timehigh in the 1980s, a newly revitalized PSR,led by Helen Caldicott, MD, organizedmedical symposia in more than 30 citiesthroughout the country. Each event out-lined for an overflow crowd how the cata-clysmic effects of a nuclear attack on theUS would leave the medical communityhelplessly short of personnel, medicalsupplies, and hospital beds needed to treatvictims and alleviate human suffering.Making the nuclear issue relevant to ev-eryone, these symposia built an activistnetwork across the nation among healthcare workers and other concerned citizens,and fostered public support for armscontrol and a nuclear weapons freeze.

IPPNW and the Nobel Peace Prize

PSR’s success inspired the formationof International Physicians for the Preven-tion of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in 1981.IPPNW helped open arms control discus-sions between the US and the Soviet Unionand fostered an international physicians’anti-nuclear movement that was recog-nized with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

US-Soviet Physicians Campaign

In the mid-1980s, PSR and its Sovietcounterpart conducted a series of pioneer-ing exchanges, bringing dozens of Sovietand US physicians together in local com-munities throughout both countries. De-mystifying the “enemy,” participantsshared medical and cultural information,discussed arms control strategies, and metcapacity crowds at press conferencesand public events.

Sounding the Alarm about Fallout

In the 1960s, PSR realized that, despitegovernment assurances, open-air nucleartests were exposing Americans to danger-ous levels of radiation. To prove theirhypothesis, PSR physicians around thecountry gathered the baby teeth of localchildren. Tests on these teeth showed thepresence of strontium 90, a by-product ofnuclear testing. This finding built publicsupport for a halt to US atmospheric tests

THOUSANDS

THRONG TO HEAR

HELEN CALDICOTT,

MD, TAKE PSR’S

MESSAGE ACROSS

THE NATION.

5

Lessons from Chernobyl

In the aftermath of the Chernobyl acci-dent, journalists turned to PSR forreliable projections of the health effects ofthe disaster. Despite the secrecy withwhich the Soviet Union cloaked its nuclearprogram, a team of PSR physicians visitedChernobyl victims in Moscow Hospital #6.They brought home firsthand accounts ofthe radiation health effects and provided amedical perspective on the crisis.

Scenarios for Disaster

In the 1980s, PSR repeatedly exposedfederal nuclear-war civil defense planningas naive and futile. We aided municipalofficials who, shocked by the FederalEmergency Management Agency (FEMA)plan to evacuate whole cities in the eventof a nuclear war, withheld their coopera-tion; more than 300 cities ultimately re-jected FEMA’s plans. When FEMA threat-ened to withhold funds from states thatbalked at the evacuation exercises, PSRchapters in Washington and Oregon cir-culated copies of FEMA’s absurd scenario,while PSR experts debunked the plan onCapitol Hill. Finally, Congress orderedan embarrassed FEMA to back down.

Taking on the Air Force, PSR chaptersin North Carolina, Oregon, Maine, andMassachusetts blocked plans for GroundWave Emergency Network (GWEN)towers in their regions by holding commu-nity meetings and voicing loud oppositionto the proposal for an exten-sive, post-nuclear-warcommunication system.

Poking Holes inStar Wars

To illuminatethe fallacy of theStrategic DefenseInitiative (SDI),PSR created an um-brella with 5 percent ofits surface cut away, mak-ing it plain that the proposed95-percent-effective SDI systemwas simply full of holes. We distributedumbrellas to every House and Senate of-fice. Keeping the arms race out of spacehas been a recurrent effort: PSR helpeduphold a 1985 ban on anti-satellite (ASAT)weapons tests, worked to lower Star Warsfunding, and is opposing current nationalmissile defense schemes.

DAVID FRASZ, MD,

USES A PROP TO

ILLUSTRATE THE

FLAWS IN A

95%-EFFECTIVE

STAR WARS SHIELD.

PSR’S 1987 SOVIET

PHYSICIANS TOUR

BRINGS RUSSIAN

DOCTORS TO A

BILINGUAL SCHOOL

IN CINCINNATI.

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T he Comprehensive NuclearTest Ban, more than anyother issue, demonstrates

PSR’s endurance and persistenceover its nearly 40-year history. TheLimited Test Ban Treaty of 1963(see page 2) ended the era of atmo-spheric nuclear tests, but the super-powers continued to explode theirbombs underground, contaminatingvast swaths of land and using theirtesting data to fuel a treacherousarms race.

Personal appeals to Soviet Presi-dent Gorbachev from IPPNW lead-ers helped prompt the USSR to de-clare a unilateral moratorium onnuclear tests in 1985 and again in1991. PSR responded by pressingthe US to cease testing and to opennegotiations for a ComprehensiveNuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).Faced with continued US testing,PSR activists and others in Oregonprodded freshman CongressmanMike Kopetski (D-OR) and SenatorMark Hatfield (R-OR) to take ac-tion. Their bill to put a moratoriumon US testing and to start test bannegotiations—also supported bySenators George Mitchell (D-ME)and J. James Exon (D-NE)—passed in 1992, thanks to a tirelesseffort by PSR chapters and staff,and citizens across the country. SaidSenator Hatfield: “The surprise vic-tory could never have happenedwithout the support of PSR.”

In 1993, PSR helped uncover anadministration draft plan to renewnuclear testing and to back a weaktreaty that would have allowed testsunder one kiloton. At PSR’s urging,38 Senators and 159 Representa-tives called on President Clinton toextend the moratorium and pursue a

the long road to anuclear test ban

6

DAVID RUSH, MD, (UPPER

LEFT) PARTICIPATES IN

1993 HIROSHIMA DAY

OBSERVANCES DURING

A CTBT CONFERENCE

SPONSORED BY IPPNW

ON BOARD A SHIP IN

THE BARENTS SEA.

truly comprehensive nuclear testban; he acceded. In 1995, when USofficials again wavered, PSR workedwith foreign governments and mem-bers of Congress to build oppositionto a proposed 500-ton-thresholdtreaty, then mobilized 35,000 citi-zens to call the White House in sup-port of a comprehensive treaty. ThePresident finally explicitly endorseda true “zero-yield” test ban.

When international CTBT nego-tiations finally opened, PSR facednew obstacles at home and abroad.In June 1996, PSR pushed theSenate to defeat the Kyl-Reidamendment, which would have un-dermined the treaty by allowing UStests. When India and Iran dead-locked CTBT negotiations in Au-gust, PSR rallied support for anAustralian resolution to bring thetreaty directly to the UN. The UNapproved the resolution and adoptedthe treaty. After 2,046 nuclear testsworldwide, President Clinton andother leaders signed the Comprehen-sive Test Ban Treaty in September1996.

In October 1999, after years ofdelay, the US Senate scheduled anabrupt vote on CTBT ratification.PSR mobilized its national leadersand grassroots network in supportof the test ban. The Senate fell 18votes short of the two-thirds major-ity needed to approve the treaty, butPSR is working to assure that theCTBT returns to the Senate calen-dar, this time with the hearings anddiscussion appropriate to a majorinternational security measure.

7

CHIEF RAYMOND

YOWELL OF THE

WESTERN

SHOSHONE

NATION SPEAKS

AT A 1993 CTBT

CITIZEN’S SUMMIT

ORGANIZED

BY PSR.

PSR DIRECTOR JULIA MOORE AND REPS. MIKE KOPETSKI AND

RICHARD GEPHARDT LAUNCH THE HOUSE LEGISLATION WHICH

HALTED US NUCLEAR TESTING AND LED TO TEST BAN TALKS.

8

Trimming the Nuclear Arsenals

PSR’s education about the risks ofnuclear war helped build public pressurefor bilateral arms control measures. In thisclimate, US-Soviet summit negotiationsresumed in 1985, after a six-year hiatus.PSR waged campaigns in support of theINF, START I, and START II arms con-trol agreements, encouraging the super-powers to move from a strategy of mutu-ally assured destruction toward one ofmutually assured security.

Closing the Weapons Complex

In the late 1980s, PSR chapters in theNorthwest worked with local coalitionsand PSR’s national staff to publicize healthconcerns about the Department of Energy(DOE)’s Hanford Reservation, where ra-diation had been intentionally released intothe environment. Public outcry resulted inthe launch of an official multimillion-dollar health study and brought operationsat Hanford to a halt. Then a dramatic late-night FBI raid on the DOE’s Rocky FlatsPlant near Denver, Colorado, uncoveredegregious environmental, health, andsafety problems—including enough strayplutonium in plant ventilation ducts tospur a nuclear chain reaction. When thesefindings shut the plant, the DOE lost itscapacity to mass-produce triggers for itsnuclear bombs. PSR’s Colorado chapterworked with other groups to bar the re-start of the treacherous facility. A nationalcampaign helped stop construction of othernuclear production plants—thus imposingthe long-sought nuclear weapons freeze.Subsequent PSR efforts have helped toenforce environmental cleanup at federalfacilities and stall the DOE’s aggressivemodernization plans.

WILLIAM PORTER,

MD, PRESENTS

A CHECK TO

DRAMATIZE

CHARLOTTE, NC

TAXPAYERS’ SHARE

OF THE NUCLEAR

WEAPONS

PRODUCTION

BUDGET.

HERBERT L.

ABRAMS, MD’S

CONTRIBUTIONS TO

NUCLEAR WAR

PREVENTION

INCLUDE WORK ON

RADIATION

BIOLOGY AND

ON PRESIDENTIAL

DECISION-MAKING

CAPABILITIES.

9

Dead Reckoning

In 1988, PSR called for a comprehen-sive and independent evaluation of healthand safety problems in the DOE’s nuclearweapons production complex, where ra-dioactive and toxic wastes threatenedworkers and nearby residents. These ef-forts culminated in the 1992 publicationof Dead Reckoning, PSR’s critical review ofthe DOE’s epidemiologic research on thehealth risks of nuclear weapons produc-tion. PSR’s work helped prompt the trans-fer of nuclear weapons production healthstudies from the DOE to the Departmentof Health and Human Services, improv-ing independent oversight of research onthe hazards of making and testing nuclearweapons.

Radiation Experiments

Responding to persistent calls fromPSR and others to lift the veil of secrecyaround health issues in the DOE’s weap-ons complex, in 1993, Energy SecretaryHazel O’Leary released previously classi-fied information about US government-sponsored radiation experiments on hu-man subjects. As the nation struggled tomake sense of the deeply troubling story,reporters turned to PSR for expertise onmedical ethics, the need for full disclosure,and the necessity for medical follow-up forall populations exposed to radiation fromthe nuclear arms race.

Manhattan Project II

To seize the opportunity afforded bythe end of the Cold War, PSR launchedthe Manhattan Project II, with formerPentagon analyst Daniel Ellsberg. Theproject laid out a 10-point blueprint forundoing the legacy of the first ManhattanProject and abolishing nuclear weapons—an agenda subsequently adopted by otheranti-nuclear groups.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Delegates from more than 170 countriesmet in New York in 1995 to review theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).PSR used the opportunity to emphasizeto nuclear and non-nuclear states alikethe value of extending this crucial agree-ment, while reminding nuclear weaponsstates of their obligation to pursue nucleardisarmament under Article VI of the treaty.

Health Data on Atomic Fallout

In 1997, PSR helped force the NationalCancer Institute (NCI) to make publicits findings on the health impacts of USatmospheric nuclear tests. NCI had con-ducted the federally mandated study butfailed to alert the public and the scientificcommunity to the radiation risks theirresearch uncovered. The study docu-mented the widespread dispersal of radio-active iodine 131 across the nation in the1950s and early 1960s, validating PSR’searly concerns about the hazards of above-ground nuclear weapons tests. PSR pro-vided an expert critique of the study, whichit found had underestimated the healthrisks of the fallout.

DRS. JENNIFER

LEANING AND

H. JACK GEIGER

UNVEIL PSR’S

SCHOLARLY

JOURNAL, NOW

SPONSORED BY

IPPNW.

10

General Butler JoinsPSR’s Call for Abolition

After serving as Commander ofSTRATCOM, where he oversaw all USstrategic nuclear weapons, General GeorgeLee Butler became one of the most re-spected and compelling advocates fornuclear weapons abolition. In 1997, hejoined PSR’s Board of Sponsors, and in1998, he made only his third public speechon this topic at PSR’s National Conference.

“PSR has long been at the forefront ofthis effort,” declared General Butler. “It hasprovided a powerful moral beacon, decry-ing the folly of massive nuclear arsenalsand their cataclysmic destructiveness.”

Accidents Can Still Happen

PSR physicians joined nuclear weaponsexperts to publish a 1998 article in TheNew England Journal of Medicine drawingattention to the grave risks of accidentalnuclear war in the post-Cold War world.The article warned that an accidentalnuclear attack could kill more than sixmillion Americans. The public healthimperative to prevent such an accident ne-cessitates an agreement with Russia to takeall nuclear missiles off hair-trigger alert—a key step toward the eventual abolitionof nuclear weapons. PSR is building onconcern about Russia’s deterioratingeconomy and military computers, as wellas our own vulnerability to technologicalglitches, to make a strong case for imme-diate de-alerting of US and Russiannuclear arsenals.

GEN. LEE BUTLER

DISCUSSES

NUCLEAR

ABOLITION WITH

DANIEL FINE, MD,

AND OTHER

PARTICIPANTS OF

PSR’S 1998

NATIONAL

CONFERENCE.

DONALD

RUCKNAGEL, MD,

OF PSR/SOUTH-

WEST OHIO,

URGES RATIFICA-

TION OF THE

CHEMICAL

WEAPONS

CONVENTION AT A

RALLY ON THE

STEPS OF THE US

CAPITOL. THE

SENATE APPROVED

THE TREATY.

11

Critical Condition

In 1992, PSR’s work to mobilize themedical community on environmentalhealth issues prompted MIT, the HarvardSchool of Public Health, Brown Univer-sity, and PSR’s Greater Boston chapter toconvene more than 700 physicians andenvironmentalists to assess environmentalhealth issues. This collaboration resultedin Critical Condition, Dr. Eric Chivian’s de-finitive volume on human health and theenvironment.

Primers on Environment and Health

Recognizing that, on average, physi-cians receive only four hours of environ-mental health education throughouttheir careers, PSR launched a series ofpublications to provide primary care

physicians with information on the impactof pollution on human health. The seriescovers pesticides, air pollution, cancer,and the most dangerous environmentaltoxins.

Protecting Children from Lead

Having witnessed the devastating de-velopmental and neurological effects ofchildhood lead poisoning, PSR physiciansmoved to help prevent this entirely envi-ronmental disease. PSR enlisted pediatricdepartment heads around the country tolobby for the inclusion of lead preventionmeasures in the National Housing Bill of1992. This and other coalition efforts paidoff when the final measure passed withthe most significant federal provisions toprevent lead poisoning in 20 years.

Environment & Health

PSR DRS. ARLYN

LA BLAIR AND

JOHN SHEPPERD

HELP LAUNCH THE

DENVER MUSEUM

OF NATURAL

HISTORY’S 1990

EARTH DAY EXHIBIT.

Phot

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tanl

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eprin

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with

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ion

of T

he D

enve

r Pos

t

12

PSR is a leader in the inter-national movement to banthe worst persistent organic

pollutants (POPs)—a dangerousgroup of man-made toxins that ac-cumulate in the food chain andendure in the human body onceingested. These substances, whichinclude dioxins, DDT, and PCBs,travel easily across national bor-ders. Recognizing that nationalbans on POPs production and useare insufficient measures to safe-guard public health, PSR works toeducate citizens, physicians, andpolicy makers in the US, whilepressing for an international treatyto ban the most dangerous POPsworldwide.

In 1993, PSR co-authoredPutting the Lid on Dioxins, our firstPOPs-related report, which out-lined policy recommendationsfor preventing dioxin exposureand which provided credible sci-ence in response to false claims bydefensive industries.

As scientists study the waysPOPs compromise human health,an emerging culprit is disruption ofthe endocrine, or hormonal, sys-tem, which plays a central role invirtually every human function. In1997, PSR’s Greater Boston chap-ter published a report, Generationsat Risk, alerting physicians andthe public to the potential dangersof POPs and establishing PSR’sexpertise in the field of endocrine

taking onpersistent organic

pollutants

SHARON NEWSOME (LEFT) AND

KAREN PERRY OF THE NATIONAL STAFF

MONITOR 1999 UN POPS TREATY

NEGOTIATIONS IN GENEVA.

13

disruption. The authors furtherelaborated their findings in a 1999book of the same title published bythe MIT Press. In California, PSRchapters in Los Angeles and SanFrancisco collaborated on a 1999report on the increasing use of toxicchemicals in California and theimplications for public health.

PSR has been instrumental inconvening an international coali-tion to help shape a treaty to elimi-nate POPs. The International POPsElimination Network (IPEN) in-cludes more than 260 organizationsfrom five continents, and made itsmark at the UN’s opening POPsnegotiations in 1998 with a day-long public forum that won acclaimfrom the director of the UN En-vironmental Programme. IPEN,with PSR as its Secretariat, is par-ticipating in every step of the treatyprocess.

ABOVE: AT A 1998

MONTREAL CONFERENCE

CO-SPONSORED BY PSR,

BARRY COMMONER

ADDRESSES THE NEED TO

ELIMINATE POPS, WHICH

ARE FOUND AS FAR FROM

THEIR INDUSTRIAL SOURCES

AS THE ARCTIC (BELOW).

14

Making the Grade

Since 1995, PSR has been passing outgrades for each member of Congress.PSR’s Children’s Environmental HealthReport Card scores Senators, Represen-tatives, and administrations on their recordof protecting children from environmen-tal hazards. At a time when drives for“regulatory reform” threaten to scrap allfederal environmental safeguards, PSR’sreport draws congressional and mediaattention and helps enforce our society’sobligation to protect its future generations.

Pesticides and Children’s Health

Because children have different eatinghabits and consume more food per poundof body weight than adults, their develop-ing bodies face greater risks from pesticidesin the food supply. By publicizing pioneer-ing research on the issue by a PSR physi-cian and enlisting the support of leaders inpediatric medicine, PSR won the incorpo-ration of children’s health considerationsin the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996.

Clearing the Air

When EPA Administrator CarolBrowner set out to strengthen air qualitystandards in 1997, she found a strong allyin PSR. Well aware of the toll that bad airtakes on children, the elderly, and thosewith lung disease, PSR co-authored ananalysis of the link between air quality andSudden Infant Death Syndrome, andextrapolated the number of infant livesstronger air standards would save. PSRphysicians across the country dramatizedthe clean air issue in local press events,while PSR experts testified at EPA hear-ings. PSR participation in high-levelmeetings in Washington, DC, helpedcounter extravagantly funded industryopposition, and President Clinton agreedto the tighter rules.

Health Care Without Harm

Physician concern about the health ef-fects of dioxins came home to roost whenthe EPA named medical waste incineratorsthe largest source of dioxin releases in theUS. PSR and other members of the HealthCare Without Harm coalition publicizedthe need for reform and, in 1997, releaseda set of reports on the problem entitledFirst, Do No Harm. Student PSR membersin Urbana, IL, co-founded a coalition thatforced closure of two medical waste incin-erators and prompted a city ordinance bar-ring incineration of medical waste. PSR’swork has helped change purchasing stan-dards at hospitals, and recent federallegislation includes first-ever standardsfor medical waste incinerator emissions.

BALTIMORE

SCHOOLCHILDREN

PAY THEIR FIRST VISIT

TO A SENATE

OFFICE TO DELIVER

THE CHILDREN’S

ENVIRONMENTAL

HEALTH REPORT

CARD.

15

PSR experts on the Intergov-ernmental Panel on ClimateChange helped turn the tide

of scientific opinion toward accep-tance of the concept that humanactivities alter world climate. Theirscience helped shape the climatetreaty negotiated in Kyoto in 1997,while other PSR efforts publicizedthe health consequences of climatechange and helped build politicalconsensus for an agreement. PSRcollected the signatures of 1,100physicians and eight Nobel laureatesin medicine on a letter in supportof a strong climate change treaty.PSR staff played an active role atthe Kyoto meeting, pressing the USto negotiate for an agreement withspecific targets and timetables forreductions in greenhouse gases.

To build support at home forclimate change mitigation, PSR istaking its Death By Degrees cam-paign to seven states, where expertsresearch, report, and publicize thestatewide health consequences of ris-ing temperatures. PSR launched thecampaign in New Hampshire as the2000 presidential primary heatedup, helping to ensure a high profilefor the climate change issue in theelection season.

action onglobal climatechange

ABOVE: AT A PSR PRESS CONFERENCE

IN CONCORD, NH, STATE

REPRESENTATIVES BARBARA FRENCH, RN,

AND PEDIATRICIAN JAMES PILLIOD, MD,

CALL ON ELECTED OFFICIALS TO LIMIT

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.

BELOW: PSR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BOB

MUSIL SPEAKS WITH A REPORTER

ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE.

16

I n 1994, PSR helped rescuedrinking water standards whenwe co-authored a report en-

titled Tap Water Blues, which revealedthat 14 million Americans weredrinking water contaminated by sev-eral agricultural pesticides. Public-ity around the report prompted theEPA to launch a review of pesticidesand drinking water.

Faced with ongoing congressionalopposition to stronger drinking wa-ter standards, PSR then went under-cover to see which members spenttaxpayer money on bottled water fortheir offices while blocking steps toclean up water from the tap. WhenPSR’s research unearthed 39 drink-ing-water hypocrites, chapters used“Bottled Water Gate” to expose themembers in the local press. Con-gress, scrambling to clean up its act,passed 1996 drinking water reformswith haste.

PSR’s March 2000 conference“Drinking Water and Disease:What Every Health Care ProviderShould Know” presented medicalpractitioners with information theyneed to treat and help prevent healthproblems associated with water-borne illness. The conference is partof PSR’s new campaign to addressstartling findings about emergingthreats to safe drinking water inthe US.

DAVID RALL, MD, TAKES

REPORTERS’ QUESTIONS

ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THE

NATION’S WATER SUPPLY UPON

THE RELEASE OF PSR’S 1995

REPORT TAP WATER BLUES.

keepingdrinking water

safe

17

Shutting Down a Gun Factory

PSR medical students played an instru-mental role in the birth of PSR’s violenceprevention program. Their active partici-pation in PSR/LA’s Cease Fire campaign,launched in 1994 to target gun manufac-turers, garnered enormous publicity andhelped shut down Southern California’sBryco Arms.

Creating Models that Work

The PSR Philadelphia chapter’s domes-tic violence screening program wasrecognized in 1998 by the federal HealthResources and Services Administration(HRSA) in their Models that Work com-petition. Since 1994, the chapter’s domes-tic violence intervention training projecthas trained 5,000 doctors, nurses, medicalstudents, medical technicians, and securityguards in order to encourage the detection,treatment, and prevention of domesticviolence. HRSA will rely on the chapter’sexpertise to help replicate the programaround the nation.

Passing the Brady Bill

PSR joined forces with other gunviolence prevention advocates to help passthe Brady Bill in 1993, implementing afive-day waiting period on all gun pur-chases. The measure was the first gun con-trol legislation enacted since measurespassed in the wake of Robert F. Kennedy’sassassination in 1968.

Banning Assault Weapons

PSR activated its grassroots network in1994 to help pressure Congress to pass aban on assault weapons. When SenatorBob Dole (R-KS) promised the NationalRifle Association he would overturn theban in 1995, PSR redoubled its efforts.PSR medical students held “Heal-Ins,”winning local and national news coverage.

Violence Prevention

REED TUCKSON, MD,

DISCUSSES GUN

CONTROL WITH SARAH

BRADY AT PSR’S 1994

NATIONAL MEETING.

HARVARD MEDICAL

SCHOOL

STUDENTS COLLECT

SIGNATURES

IN SUPPORT OF

THE ASSAULT

WEAPONS BAN

AT A 1995 PSR-

SPONSORED VIGIL

IN BOSTON.

18

PSR’s hallmark contributionto violence prevention hasbeen our recasting of the

issue from an intractable gun con-trol debate to a pressing publichealth epidemic. Acceptance of thismedical model has muted SecondAmendment arguments and pro-vided medical professionals andtheir communities with public healthapproaches for preventing guninjuries and deaths.

The first medical group to orga-nize treatment in response to the gunviolence epidemic, PSR’s Philadel-phia chapter launched several initia-tives in the early 1990s, among themthe Health Academy Project, whichlinked medical students with low-income young people in mentoringand support programs.

In 1995–96, PSR’s Chicagochapter developed the first nationalmedical training tool to address thegun violence epidemic. Their slideshow, “Firearm Violence: Commu-nity Diagnosis and Treatment,”proved so inspiring and successfulthat national staff adapted it for usethroughout the country. The slideshow has been used in grand rounds,community meetings, and innumer-able other settings to educate thou-sands on the epidemiology of gunviolence and ways to combat theepidemic.

treating the epidemic

RIGHT: PSR MEMBERS MARCH

FROM THE US CAPITOL TO THE

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES FOR A DIE-IN

(INSET) TO DEMONSTRATE THE

FACT THAT A CHILD IN THE US

IS SHOT EVERY TWO MINUTES.

19

Dramatizing Gun Deaths

PSR’s 1996 “Emergency Response toGun Violence” made the gun-violencedeath toll plain on Capitol Hill. Severalhundred physicians, medical students, andconcerned citizens convened to hear first-hand accounts from trauma survivors anda trauma physician, while every two min-utes a local grade-school student fell to theground to dramatize the actual frequencywith which American children are shot.

Abusers Lose their Guns

PSR worked with other groups towin congressional passage of the Domes-tic Violence Offenders Gun Ban in 1996.The law prohibits anyone convicted of adomestic violence crime from owning orpossessing a firearm. Because good record-keeping plays a key role in implementationof the ban, PSR pushed Congress for suf-ficient funding for full background checkson gun purchasers.

Rallying Against Junk Guns

A two-year campaign by PSR andStudent PSR chapters in Los Angeles andIrvine, CA, took on junk guns, or Satur-day Night Specials—the small, cheaphandguns used in a disproportionatenumber of crimes. Their work helped spurthe 1997 passage of an all-out ban on junkguns by both houses of the California leg-islature. Despite widespread support forsuch measures—which are already law inmore than 29 cities and counties in thestate—Governor Pete Wilson vetoed theban.

Putting Gun Safety to a Vote

In 1997, PSR’s Washington chapterplayed an instrumental role in the drive toget the Handgun Safety Act on the ballotin Washington state. The most sweepinggun control measure ever to win statewideconsideration, the act called for mandatorytrigger locks on all guns sold and requireda gun safety test for all gun owners. PSRmembers gathered the signatures neededto bring the measure to a vote, raisedmoney, surveyed voters, conducted focusgroups, and assembled staff for the cam-paign. When public support for the mea-sure reached 60 percent, the NRA broughtin their “big guns,” including PresidentCharlton Heston. The NRA cash thatflooded the state—along with the organ-ization’s scare tactics and misinformationcampaign—bought the measure’s defeat,but PSR members are using bonds forgedduring the effort to continue addressinggun safety issues.

AT A 1993

CONFERENCE,

JOSIAH HILL, PA,

OF PSR/OREGON,

TALKS WITH

ACTIVISTS ABOUT

THE IMPACT OF

MEDIA VIOLENCE

ON KIDS.

20

PSR’S LEE FRANCIS,

MD, ADDRESSES

AN ILLINOIS

COUNCIL

AGAINST HAND-

GUN VIOLENCE

RALLY IN 1997.

Enforcing Common Sense

When Congress tried to pass “productliability reform” legislation that would haveexempted most gun manufacturers fromcivil lawsuits, PSR lobbied in Washington,alerted its activist network, and collabo-rated with other national groups to defeatthe measure. Likewise, when Congresscapitalized on public hysteria about youthviolence by proposing to criminalize chil-dren and strip money from some crime-prevention programs, PSR helped defeat

the legislation, and built support for solu-tions that include public-health-orientedcrime-prevention measures.

Blocking Gun Imports

PSR played a key role in defeating aHouse Appropriations Committee amend-ment that would have permitted the returnto the US market of nearly 2.5 millionAmerican-made military weapons that hadbeen sold or given to foreign nations, ortaken as spoils of war.

PSR’s vision is clear as we enter the 21st century.

Threats to global survival remain enormous.

Building on our successes, PSR will continue to be

a powerful medical force for positive change.

MAY 2000

PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY1101 Fourteenth Street, NW, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20005

Telephone (202) 898-0150

Fax (202) 898-0172

E-mail psrnatl@psr.org

Web www.psr.org

US Affiliate of International Physicians forthe Prevention of Nuclear War