PSR Florida Chapter

Board members Drs. Saff and Axelrad are sounding the alarm and raising awareness around PFAS. These "forever" chemicals are most likely coming from Tallahassee’s wastewater spray field and moving toward Wakulla Springs. Some private wells nearby are already testing positive for these toxic chemicals which are linked to certain cancers and thyroid disease.

This is exactly why our advocacy matters. Clean water doesn’t protect itself.

💧 We need transparency, more testing, and real accountability — now.

Scientists: ‘Forever chemicals’ probably coming from Tallahassee wastewater field, flowing to Wakulla Springs A group of doctors, geologists and local commissioners believe just under nine million Floridians have been exposed to PFAS, or “forever chemicals”

Drs. Saff and Axelrad sound the alarm on forever chemicals.

'Forever chemicals' found in Woodville wells spark alarm Private wells are especially vulnerable because they are not federally regulated and often go untested, experts say

Are you an EarthGiver? Today's the day to show your support for the environment. Click below to support your local PSR Chapter.

It’s Earth Gives Day! 🌏 On this nationwide day of giving for environmental action, donate to Physicians for Social Responsibility or your local PSR chapter to support public health, climate solutions, and a nuclear-free world. Help surpass our $25,000 goal ➡️➡️➡️ earthgives.org/organization/psr

Important LTE on vaccines published in the Tampa Bay Times, by retired Tampa area physicians, to include our founder, Dr. Lynn Ringenberg.

Bad idea

We are GRITs: grateful, retired, independent, thriving. We are retired women physicians from the Tampa Bay area with decades of medical experience. Though retired, we remain committed to public health and strongly oppose efforts to end school immunization restrictions in Florida.

Florida law requires students to be vaccinated against polio, diphtheria, rubeola, rubella, pertussis, mumps and tetanus, with medical and religious exemptions. Changing these protections would require legislative approval. The Florida Department of Health, however, could roll back requirements for chicken pox, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B, and pneumococcal vaccines, according to news reports.

Ending these mandates invites the return of diseases long suppressed, diseases that can cause lifelong disability and death. We know this because we practiced medicine before vaccines. We saw children suffer permanent harm or die from preventable infections. Immunization requirements save lives. We urge you to act.

Contact your legislators (details below on how to reach them) and insist that vaccine protections remain in place. Preserving these requirements safeguards not only children, but families, schools, and the community.

Dr. Teresa Brandt — dermatology

Dr. Barbara Bachman — gastroenterology

Drs. Shelly Baumann, Patricia Hambley — radiology

Drs. Ratna Dhingra, Lynn Ringenberg — pediatrics

Dr. Elaine Engleman — radiology and pediatric radiology

Drs. Iris Brossard, Susan Steen — neurology

Dr. Moira Burke — ophthalmology

Dr. Sylvia Campbell — surgery

Drs. Kathryn Corrigan, Carol Hodges, Susan Terry — internal medicine

Dr. Rebecca Johnson – pathology

Dr. Kathryn Kepes — radiation oncology

Dr. Nancy Landfish — neonatology and pediatrics

Dr. Janet Marley — obstetrics and gynecology

Dr. Dorry Norris — infectious diseases

Dr. Catherine Phillips — emergency medicine

Drs. Evelyn Roisman, Sue Schler — internal medicine and geriatrics

Dr. Bonnie Saks — psychiatry

Dr. Janet Seper — otolaryngology

Dr Laurie Woodard — family medicine

To contact your FL legislators today, go to - https://flhouse.gov/ and https://www.flsenate.gov/

Calendar for 9/13/2025 - The Florida Senate HB 7031 bill permanently eliminates the sales tax on many disaster and hurricane preparedness supplies as well as several safety and health-related items. 

https://news.wfsu.org/wfsu-local-news/2025-09-15/a-group-of-safe-water-advocates-say-theyve-found-elevated-levels-of-chemical-contaminants-in-woodville-well-water

A group of safe water advocates say they've found elevated levels of chemical contaminants in Woodville well water The Physicians for Social Responsibility have focused on tracking potentially harmful substances in local sources of drinking.

Jacksonville, Florida

September 4, 2025

VACCINES PROTECT AND SAVE LIVES! THANK YOU DUVAL COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY!

To our community and policymakers,

Protecting Children, Protecting Florida: The Case for Vaccination

As physicians of the Duval County Medical Society (DCMS), we are deeply concerned by efforts to dismantle longstanding childhood vaccine requirements in Florida. At a time when we should be strengthening the health of our communities, removing these safeguards threatens to reverse decades of progress against preventable disease.

Vaccines are not abstract. They are among medicine’s greatest triumphs, protecting generations of children from polio, measles, whooping cough, and other devastating illnesses. They represent the best of science in service to humanity. When vaccination protections are undermined, the consequences are measured not in rhetoric, but in real illnesses, preventable suffering, and unnecessary deaths.

Already, troubling signs are before us. In 2025 alone, the United States has witnessed more than 1,400 measles cases and over 10,000 pertussis cases. These figures are nearly double those of last year. Tragically, most occurred in individuals who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. Here in Jacksonville, we have seen firsthand the return of diseases once considered controlled. These outbreaks remind us that immunity is not a given; it is a responsibility we share.

We recognize that parents may have concerns about the potential effects of vaccines on their children, and these concerns stem from a natural and well-founded desire to safeguard their child’s health. As physicians, our charge is clear: to protect children and families through evidence-based care, to educate with compassion and knowledge, and to advocate for policies that place community well-being above ideology. We know that the health of one child is inseparable from the health of all.

To our state leaders, we say this: medical freedom must never come at the expense of public safety. True freedom means ensuring that every child can safely attend school, every parent can trust that their community is protected, and every family can thrive without fear of diseases we already know how to prevent.

The Duval County Medical Society stands ready to work with lawmakers, educators, and community leaders to preserve vaccination protections, to educate families, and to strengthen public trust. Together, we can reaffirm Florida’s role as a leader in public health—not by retreating from science, but by embracing it.

At its best, medicine is not about winning arguments. It is about keeping people healthy and saving lives. On behalf of the physicians of Duval County, I urge us all to act with courage, wisdom, and unity. Our children, and our future, deserve nothing less.

Respectfully,

Ali Kasraeian, MD, MHA, FACS
President, Duval County Medical Society

Thank You Hillsborough County Medical Association (HCMA) for your strong statement and support of childhood vaccinations. As a Pediatrician for close to 50 years, I've watched babies and children die, and comforted their parents from the diseases that we now have safe, effective and protective vaccines for! Why go backwards, and let our kids get sick, and possibly die! Think about your children and grandchildren!

HCMA Position Statement on Childhood Vaccinations and Immunizations

The Hillsborough County Medical Association (HCMA) affirms our commitment to protecting the wellness of children and families in Hillsborough County and strongly opposes the recent announcement by Florida’s Surgeon General to eliminate longstanding vaccine mandates in our state, including vaccine requirements for school entry.

The HCMA is in full support of the World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) recommendations that immunizations are the safest and most cost-effective way of preventing disease, disability, and death.

For decades, these requirements have safeguarded Florida’s children and communities against deadly but preventable diseases such as measles, polio, and whooping cough. Vaccines have saved millions of lives worldwide. Their effectiveness and safety have been rigorously studied and validated through clinical research and years of experience.

Rolling back these protections places our children and communities at unnecessary risk. Infectious diseases that were once nearly eradicated could reemerge, causing preventable illness, disability, and death, especially among children.

The HCMA fully supports requirements for immunizations to attend childcare and school, with exemptions for religious convictions and/or specific immunizations only when medically contraindicated for an individual child.

We urge Florida’s leaders to preserve existing vaccine requirements that keep our schools safe, our communities healthy, and our children alive.