Surgeon general: Stop tanning and save your skin
Posted on July 31, 2014
Those of you tanning or burning your skin this summer should stop — seek the shade, wear a hat and some sunscreen and, whatever you do, stay out of indoor tanning salons. It's a familiar skin-cancer prevention message, but it's coming from a new source: the office of the U.S. Surgeon General.
Nearly 5 million people in the United States are treated for skin cancer each year, at a cost of $8.1 billion, the report says. About 63,000 cases are the most serious kind, melanoma, and about 6,000 of those cases are directly linked to indoor tanning, the report says.
The report says ultraviolet radiation exposure from indoor tanning is "completely avoidable." In an interview, Lushniak, who is a dermatologist, said it is time for additional states to join the several that have banned indoor tanning by minors and the 44 with some kind of restrictions.