Posted: January 20, 2010

Dear Representative Kriseman

As a constituent and a physician assistant, I strongly urge you to support S430 and/or H205 regarding the use of tanning services by individuals under 18 years of age. I feel it is very important to protect the children of Florida from this known human carcinogen.

I have personally seen the adverse effects of indoor tanning. I have seen a significant increase in the incidence of skin cancers including life threatening malignant melanoma in my younger patients as well as my older patients. Many of them have had extensive exposure to tanning beds since their early teen years, and this may have contributed directly to their skin cancers. The youngest patient I have seen with Melanoma was 5 years old. His mother took her to the tanning bed with her so she could look tanned in beauty pageants. What concerns me even more is that 30% of every Doctor and PA/NP visit in Primary care is skin related but Family Practice Residents only get two weeks of Dermatology specific training in their Residencies and this could lead to more missed Melanoma’s.

I am concerned about the growing incidence of skin cancer. This past summer, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organization, moved UV radiation from tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category, labeling it as “carcinogenic to humans”.

In 2008, the National Cancer Institute reported that the number of melanoma cases for young women between the ages of 15 to 39 has increased as much as 50% from 1980 to 2004. It is believed that the rising rate of melanoma is, in part, due to the popularity of tanning salons among young women.

This year, more than 1.2 million new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed in the United States. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is now the second most common cancer in women aged 20-29.

In 2009, over 69,000 people were diagnosed with melanoma. Florida had the second largest number of cases of melanoma in the country with an estimated 4,920 cases in 2009.

With these statistics come staggering health care costs. In 2004, the total direct cost associated with treating just non-melanoma skin cancer was $1.5 billion, $1.2 billion of which was attributed to care received in a physician’s office.

The World Health Organization and the American Medical Association have recommended that no one under the age of 18 use tanning parlor radiation.

In the interest of protecting teens from the early onset of serious medical conditions, I strongly ask that you support S430 and/or H205.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Randy Banks, MPAS, PA-C
President
Florida Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants, Inc.