Bill Passed To Speed Sunscreen Approvals

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives last week passed legislation (H.R. 4250) that would require FDA to review applications for new sunscreen ingredients within 11 months. It would also require FDA to clear the current backlog of sunscreen applications within eight months. Introduced in March by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), the bill is being welcomed by the Public Access to SunScreens Coalition, a group of medical professionals, skin cancer experts, and sunscreen manufacturers. The coalition has long been pushing FDA to accelerate the approval of new sunscreen technologies, claiming that several ingredients awaiting approval in the U.S. have been widely available in Europe and other parts of the world, in some cases for more than a decade. The Senate is expected to vote on companion legislation (S. 2141) in September.