FDA hearing targets tanning beds

With a new tax in the health care bill and now the consideration of tougher regulations, it appears the federal government is taking the reported risks of indoor tanning more seriously than ever.

Food and Drug Administration had hearings Thursday to discuss how the government regulates the $5 billion tanning industry that serves 30 million Americans every year, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

Currently the government classifies tanning lamps as a Class I medical device, putting them in the same class as bedpans, bandages and thermometers.

Those testifying at the hearing in favor of tighter regulation hope to re-categorize tanning beds as a Class II device with x-ray machines and other medical imaging devices. That could prevent minors from indoor tanning completely and would require manufacturers to create a registry to monitor their products’ use.

These steps align with the position of the World Health Organization, which recently moved tanning beds and UV rays into a category with the most dangerous forms of radiation and recommended that no one under the age of 18 use them.

Medical professionals agree tanning has its dangers.

“At the moment, tanning beds are classified as safe by the FDA, but given the scientific evidence, that’s something we now know to be false,” said David E. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D. and member of the Melanoma Research Foundation, in a statement.

“These devices pose serious health risks that must be addressed.”

Those serious health risks include a 75 percent increased chance of developing melanoma from just the first exposure to tanning beds, according to The Skin Cancer Foundation.

Melanoma is considered to be one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer and killed an estimated 8,650 Americans in 2009.

A survey by the IU School of Medicine found that while 92 percent of college students were aware of the risks of tanning beds, 47 percent still used the service during the last year.

The attitude that misfortune won’t come their way when it comes to tanning appears to be pervasive among young adults and was the attitude of Vincennes University freshman Katie Donnar when she began tanning at age 12.

Donnar said she began tanning in sixth grade after noticing how tan other girls on her cheerleading team were and continued to frequently tan through high school until she noticed a brown spot on her leg. Donnar was diagnosed with malignant melanoma.

“I was completely shocked,” she said. “I thought, ‘I’m 17 years old, how can this be happening to me?’”

Donnar eventually had to have the mole on her left calf removed, leaving her with a 4-inch scar.

Though Donnar was lucky enough to have the cancer removed at an early stage, doctors still monitor her to make sure it has not spread.

Thursday’s FDA hearing also comes in the wake of a new “tanning tax” inside of the recently passed health care bill.
 
The bill imposes a 10 percent tax effective July 1 for tanning services and is expected to raise $2.7 billion for the government’s $940 billion health care overhaul over the next 10 years.
Sol Spa Tanning Manager Kristina Mrozinski called the tax “ridiculous” and said it could run some smaller salons out of business.

She said people in the tanning industry as well as clientele are asking legislatures to repeal the tax, but an extra 40 cents on tanning won’t stop customers.

In January, the Tanning Bed Cancer Control Act was introduced to Congress in hopes of increasing tanning bed classification and industry oversight by limiting the amount of UV rays beds emit.

“Tanning beds are the cigarettes of our time,” said bill author Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. “Cancer-causing and poorly regulated.”