The Health subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee unanimously advanced a proposal to make it easier for manufacturers to get new sunscreen ingredients approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The subcommittee approved the legislation, the Sunscreen Innovation Act (H.R. 4250) on June 19. It has now been referred to the full Energy & Commerce Committee for approval.
One of the bill’s cosponsors, Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) said that too many potentially innovative ingredients were languishing at the FDA, including at least one that had been there for a decade. "The American public is being denied effective sunscreen products that have been used safely overseas for years," said Rep. Whitfield, at a mark-up of the legislation.
He said that two outside advocacy groups – the Public Access To SunScreens (PASS) Coalition, a partnership of health organizations, sunscreen ingredient companies, and citizens, and the Environmental Working Group – had been instrumental in crafting the legislation and making sure there was an agreement that would satisfy manufacturers and also protect the public’s health.
Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said in a statement submitted for the record that "it is unacceptable that the FDA has not approved a new sunscreen ingredient in nearly 2 decades." He said this was especially a problem given that there is now "a much better understanding of the deadly consequences of excessive sun exposure."
The Sunscreen Innovation Act would overhaul the reviews and approval process, said Rep. Upton.
Members of the committee are still hashing out some issues on the legislation, including timeframes for FDA review of pending and new applications. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said that the review process had led to "unacceptable backlogs" and unnecessary delays, but, he added, "I will not support a bill that sets FDA up for failure by imposing unrealistic timeframes for action."
The full Energy & Commerce Committee has not yet scheduled a date for taking up the bill.
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