06.11.19
Al D'Amato, the former Republican senator from the Great State of New York, was always referred to as Senator Pothole, due to his willingness to take on any issue, no matter how trivial, if it got his mug in front of the media. Senator Al is long gone, but Washington, like nature, abhors a vacuum, and this vacuous vacuum has been ably filled for decades by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). From our offices in New Jersey, we've watched Schumer make mountains out of mole hills if it will get him some camera time. Schumer was at it again this weekend when he urged the US Food and Drug Administration to scrutinize chemicals found in sunscreens.
We're all for FDA taking action to improve sun protection—regulators can start by approving the medley of ingredients that have been used in Europe for years—but Schumer's shrill does more harm than good. When he stepped in front of the camera to alert the press that he had fired off a letter to the FDA calling for officials to heavily scrutinize "potentiall dangerous chemicals" found in sunscreens, headlines blared and talking heads bleated once again, "Are your sunscreens safe?," just weeks into Summer 2019.
Thanks, Chuck. As always, your words are too little, too late and too superficial. FDA and the industry have been locked in a battle over sun protection for decades. As the industry has pushed for new ingredient approvals, FDA has pushed back, citing insufficient data. It's a battle that's supposed to be cleared up in November, but don't count on it, says our columnist Nadim Shaath. In the meantime, you can be sure that Schumer's letter, probably written by a first-year intern whose ear was turned by the Environmental Working Group, didn't clarify matters—it only muddied the waters and may have compromised the health of some ill-informed consumers.
We're all for FDA taking action to improve sun protection—regulators can start by approving the medley of ingredients that have been used in Europe for years—but Schumer's shrill does more harm than good. When he stepped in front of the camera to alert the press that he had fired off a letter to the FDA calling for officials to heavily scrutinize "potentiall dangerous chemicals" found in sunscreens, headlines blared and talking heads bleated once again, "Are your sunscreens safe?," just weeks into Summer 2019.
Thanks, Chuck. As always, your words are too little, too late and too superficial. FDA and the industry have been locked in a battle over sun protection for decades. As the industry has pushed for new ingredient approvals, FDA has pushed back, citing insufficient data. It's a battle that's supposed to be cleared up in November, but don't count on it, says our columnist Nadim Shaath. In the meantime, you can be sure that Schumer's letter, probably written by a first-year intern whose ear was turned by the Environmental Working Group, didn't clarify matters—it only muddied the waters and may have compromised the health of some ill-informed consumers.