STATE | ASPS Joins Coalition to Encourage Adolescent Sunscreen Use
As a member of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Association's (ASDSA) SUNucate Coalition, ASPS signed on to multiple letters encouraging state legislative and regulatory bodies to advance measures that ensure schoolchildren have adequate access to sunscreen.
Schools nationwide have implemented well-intended policies that require a note or prescription from a physician for any over-the-counter (OTC) drugs that a student may need throughout the school day. Unfortunately, sunscreen is regulated by the FDA as an OTC drug. Therefore, many students have been forced to either obtain a note from a physician or forego utilizing sunscreen completely while at school or school-related activities.
Since December, ASPS has cosigned letters supporting legislation in Indiana and Nebraska that would remove barriers that prevent children in schools from using OTC sunscreens without parental supervision, as well as a letter supporting the Colorado Department of Human Services' proposed regulatory changes that remove barriers preventing children from using sunscreen at day camps and school-age childcare centers. Of these measures, the Nebraska bill will be the first to see action in 2018 as it is scheduled to be heard in committee on January 25.
Click here to learn more about the coalition.