Physicians for Social Responsibility, a left-wing activist group led by "health professionals," uses its medical bonafides to drive opposition to fracking, gas stoves, and other "environmental hazards to health." It's raised tens of millions of dollars in recent years to buoy those efforts. One of its leaders, however, had her medical license suspended—a fact the group has not disclosed, raising questions about its credibility.
Tova F. Fuller, a psychiatrist and University of California, San Francisco professor, serves on the group's national board of directors and as vice president of its San Francisco chapter. In 2020, she led an American Public Health Association panel on the "mental health impacts of climate disruption." Four years later, in May, California's medical board revoked her license for three years, determining in legal proceedings that her "continued unrestricted practice of medicine will endanger the public health, safety, and welfare," according to filings reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. That revocation was stayed, however, while Fuller serves out a three year probation period.
The state's determination came in the wake of a 2022 medical evaluation conducted as part of Fuller's licensure. Evaluators found that Fuller had a mental or physical illness affecting her competency, triggering legal proceedings that eventually led to her suspension. While the state did not reveal Fuller's exact impairment in its legal filings, Fuller did agree to submit to as many as 104 random drug screenings each year, attend substance abuse support group meetings, and undergo psychotherapy. She will not practice medicine without restrictions until 2027.
Physicians for Social Responsibility has not disclosed Fuller's suspension—in fact, the group has attempted to conceal it. When the Free Beacon contacted the group to inquire about the suspension, it did not respond. One day later, Physicians for Social Responsibility quietly removed Fuller's name from its list of board members—before adding her back onto the list without explanation. Fuller remains listed on the website of the group's San Francisco chapter.
The revelation—and Physicians for Social Responsibility's apparent attempt to hide it—calls the group's credibility into question as it rakes in millions of dollars from prominent climate organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, Rockefeller Family Fund, and Sierra Club Foundation, according to tax filings reviewed by the Free Beacon.
The group has deployed those resources to considerable success. It has helped pass state-level legislation in California cracking down on gas appliances and won a landmark case against the Trump administration in 2019 after it filed a complaint arguing climate change must be a factor in federal approvals for fossil fuel drilling. Coverage of those efforts has appeared in the Washington Post, the Denver Post, and CBS News.
Physicians for Social Responsibility is especially known for its anti-gas stove efforts.
The group, which has advocated for federal and state crackdowns on the appliance, lists "health harms from gas stoves" as one of its top issues. In 2020, it published a report alongside the Sierra Club and Rocky Mountain Institute recommending gas stoves be replaced by electric alternatives.
The report prompted calls at the federal level to ban the appliances. When senators such as Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) pushed back, Physicians for Social Responsibility admonished them for "politicizing issues of public health."
"On behalf of health professionals working across this nation to protect Americans from indoor and outdoor pollution," the group's environmental director said last year, "we implore Sen. Manchin and Sen. Cruz to stop politicizing issues of public health."
Physicians for Social Responsibility executive director Brian Campbell declined to comment.
The group's San Francisco chapter, where Fuller is vice president, also emerged as a leading proponent of a recently passed bill in California that requires manufacturers to place a warning label on gas stoves. One of Fuller's fellow chapter leaders, Bret Andrews, testified before the California Assembly in support of the legislation in April.
"We know that gas stoves emit a wide range of pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and benzene, which are associated with increased disease and mortality," Andrews said. "We also know that current childhood asthma is increased 42 percent by gas stove use in their home." Some experts have pushed back on those claims, arguing that the research behind them is shoddy and incomplete.
The group is also outspoken in support of developing a United States power grid that is 100 percent dependent on green energy, excluding nuclear power, which it says is "just as dirty and unsafe" as oil and gas. Wind and solar generated just 14 percent of the nation's total electricity last year, federal data showed.
"Renewable energy and energy efficiency are the future of our communities, our nation, and our world. By making a rapid transition to 100 percent clean renewable energy systems, we can protect ourselves from one of the greatest threats to health and survival: climate change," Physicians for Social Responsibility says on its website. "Climate change is happening now."
Fuller, her lawyer Paul Chan, and San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility did not respond to requests for comment.
Update: This story has been updated to note that the revocation of Fuller's license was stayed while she is on probation.