As Doctors See the Costs of Climate Change, Trump Plays a Deadly Game of Denial March 26, 2026

Earthjustice

As a cardiologist for more than 20 years, Dr. [Mark] Vossler has seen firsthand how climate change threatens his patients. Regarding the man who suffered a heart attack, he says there’s no question that exposure to extreme heat and the subsequent damage to the man’s heart increased his risk of future problems. It was “definitely a setback” to his patient’s overall health, says Dr. Vossler, who retired from his practice last year and who serves on the board of Physicians for Social Responsibility, including as president in 2025.

For Dr. Vossler, who had many frail and vulnerable patients, climate change impacts are “not just a dry study in the New England Journal of Medicine. I saw many of my patients suffer right before my eyes.”