Artificial tanning salons debuted in American culture during the 1970s. Since then, the proliferation of commercial artificial tanning salons has given birth to a $5 billion industry. Fifty thousand of these facilities receive 28 million customers annually in the United States. Many states have passed laws limiting tanning bed use by minors. A national survey of
white teenagers showed that 2.9 million of them, or 24 percent between 13 and 19 years of age, used a tanning bed at least one time.
So What’s the Big Deal?
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) sunrays represents the primary environmental factor in skin cancer development, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Therefore, exposure to UV rays emanating from the artificial sunlamps used in tanning beds pose a similar threat. These artificial tanning beds put teens at an even greater risk than adults. During the teen years, skin cells, like other cells, divide rapidly; teens undergo a high rate of growth at the cellular level. This increases the risk of skin cancer development.
Melanoma Rising
Malignant melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and is the number one form of cancer developed by people ages 25 to 20. Melanoma is the second most prevalent form of cancer in people aged 15 to 29. Since the 1970s, cases of melanoma have risen by 270 percent. The ACS reports that melanoma ended the lives of approximately 8,700 people in 2009 and physicians diagnosed 68,130 new cases.
Why Aren’t Teens Listening?
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Like many youths, teens feel invincible and subscribe to the common U.S. mindset of instant gratification. They simply don’t believe it (cancer) will happen to them. They want the golden tan they feel their peers admire, regardless of future consequences. Dermatologists all over the U.S. report a sharp increase in teen patient presenting with age spots on their skin. Age spots normally appear in a person’s late 30s at the earliest. They undergo laser and cryosurgery treatments to remove the spots, but resume tanning shortly afterward.
Speak to Their Vanity, Not to Their Health
One of the very things that teens fear the most – aging – happens every time they visit a tanning bed or deliberately lie out in the sun. A study published in the Archives of Dermatology showed that emphasizing the aging and negative appearance effects of tanning in both natural and artificial environments had much greater impact on teen tanning bed use than the threat of developing skin cancer.
American Academy of Pediatrics Recommendations
In the February 2011 issue of the journal, Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a recommendation to limit exposure to natural sun in children and stated that they support legislation that prohibits minors from visiting commercial tanning facilities. Hopes are high that this recent recommendation will spur all state lawmakers to propose and pass laws prohibiting the use of tanning beds by minors.
