FDA considers tanning bed ban for under 18

[The Straight Story]

FDA considers tanning bed ban for under 18


WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- Dermatologists and researchers testified Thursday before a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel considering indoor tanning restrictions, officials said.

The panel, which advises the FDA, reviewed the classification of tanning beds and voted to bar those under the age of 18 from using indoor tanning beds.

Some of the members of the FDA panel dissented on the ban, but said while they agreed with the sentiment of a ban, they thought it would be unrealistic to implement a ban and suggested strong warnings and parental notification be implemented instead, ABC-TV news reported.

Ultraviolet lamps for tanning are considered class I medical devices but are subject to relatively few FDA regulations.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, but is one of the few cancers for which there is a preventive option. Using a tanning bed before the age of 35 increases the risk of the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma, by 75 percent, the Melanoma Research Foundation said.

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2010/03/25/FDA-considers-tanning-bed-ban-for-under-18/UPI-89811269575909/

[tularetom]

1. Waiting for the flood of Boner jokes

:popcorn: in hand

[guitar man]

2. Oh dear god no

Then the kids will all resort to that spray on stuff and wind up Boner orange. x(

[jmowreader]

4. I thought the kids WERE resorting to the spray on stuff

Seeing as how kids ain't big on patience, and spray tans offer instant gratification.

[canetoad]

3. Good

Melanoma victim warns of solarium risks

Clare Oliver is hoping she lives to see her 26th birthday.

The battle waged by health experts to convince young people in particular about the dangers of tanning appears to be a losing one.

According to Melbourne's Peter MacCallum Hospital, melanoma is the most common form of cancer in the 15 to 30 age group and increasingly it is being linked in part to a veritable explosion in the number of outlets being opened by the unregulated solarium industry.

Melanoma victim Clare Oliver's most precious wish is to live long enough to see her 26th birthday next weekend.

"Here I am, 25 and I've been told that I've got only a few weeks to live and I don't think anything - you know, solariums, looking good, having a golden tan - is worth that," she said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/22/2011580.htm

Solarium campaigner Claire Oliver dies



Claire Oliver, the Melbourne woman who developed melanoma after using solariums, has lost her battle with cancer. The twenty-six-year-old had been campaigning to raise the awareness of the dangers of tanning after being diagnosed four years ago. She died in hospital this morning. Last month Ms Oliver appeared on the 7.30 Report to speak publicly for the first time from her hospital bed in a bid to stop others from suffering her fate.

[The Straight Story]

5. Damn, that is just sad (nt)

[pnwmom]

6. I know a 15 year old who died of melanoma.

She had lived in the sun. The ban is an excellent idea.