3/25 FDA Meeting Features Tanning Dream Team

As the industry prepares for more public scrutiny at next week’s 3/25 FDA meeting (see the background here), it can rest assured that a dream team of tanning professionals will be leading the charge.

I have it on good authority that the ITA has been steadfastly preparing for the event. For starters, the general public was invited to submit written comments in advance of the meeting. The ITA worked with an attorney who specializes in FDA matters to prepare a white paper regarding the tanning community’s position. I anticipate the ITA will make this white paper available to the public in the near future. If I had to make an educated guess, I’d venture to say that it will likely cover common discussion points regarding the industry such as the IARC report, tanning bed warning labels, and best practices the industry already adheres to.

Beyond that, the FDA accepted proposals from parties interested in speaking at the meeting. I’m sure the opposing side will have its share of the usual suspects – dermatologists, cancer groups, medical and educational institutions, beauty queen melanoma survivors, etc. However, the lineup for tanning professionals is a force to be reckoned with. The ITA was instrumental in coordinating the assembly of this A-list of speakers (in no particular order). Most of their professional affiliations and topics are noted:

• Jim Sheperd: UV Foundation, research projects regarding risks/benefits of UV exposure

• Dr. William Grant: Providing a critique of the IARC research

• Frank Richards: Chairman of the International Standards Group MT16 demonstrates that the current US standards are appropriate

• Jerry Deveney: JK, speaking to manufacturing developments that protect the consumer

• Dr. Robert Sayre: Photobiologist, head of Rapid Precision Testing Labs covering the effectiveness of currents warnings and controls

• Joe Schuster: Joe Schuster Associates, presenting on the industry's best practices and training

• Manuel Karos: Former Director of FDA's sunbed/sunlamps compliance branch, now a consultant speaking to the adequacy of the current regulatory scheme

• Dr. Howard Cyr: Formerly of the FDA's Center of Device and Radiological Health, now a consultant: topic to be announced

• Joe Levy: Smart Tan, providing melanoma data

• Bill Pipp: ETS, consumer safety protection in sunbeds and salon management software

• Rob Quinn: Owner of Tan Pro, salon practices of providing information to the consumer

• Dan Humiston: Overview of the ITA

Again, the list above resulted from the ITA’s organizational efforts. I’ve also heard that Don Smith will be presenting, and there may be others.

The meeting is slated to go from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in a room that accommodates approximately 150. They are prepared to continue the discussion into a second day if needed. Keep in mind that the opposing side will no doubt have their own lengthy list of big-hitter speakers. I imagine each speaker will only be given a very brief amount of time to make their case. From what I gather, our focus will be an, “If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it” message. We’ll be coming at it from all angles – equipment, regulation, health, education, research, science, compliance and then some.

I look forward to following up with the ITA to find out how the meeting goes. If you attend or have feedback, please drop me a line at kbutler@vpico.com or use the “comment” feature below.

–Karen

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