During a House Energy Committee hearing before the Congressional Recess, Rep. John Joyce (R-PA) asked Acting Director for Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA Dr. Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay about sunscreens.
00:00He is back now to recognize the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Dr. Joyce, for his five minutes of questioning.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and congratulations on your new role as the chairman of the health subcommittee.
00:09We look forward to working with you.
00:12I would further like to thank you for including the Safe Sunscreen Standards Act in this hearing.
00:18This is my bipartisan legislation, also introduced by Representative Dingell, Representative Ross, and Representative Dave Joyce of Ohio.
00:26This represents a year-long work product from the Congressional Skin Cancer Caucus aimed at fixing a serious health crisis that we are facing each and every day in the United States.
00:39Today, nearly one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.
00:45Squamous cell carcinomas, basal cell carcinomas are estimated at over five million cases each year.
00:52In 2025, it is estimated that over 200,000 cases of melanoma will be diagnosed.
01:00And in the last 15 years, we have seen that number of new invasive melanomas diagnosed to be increased by almost 50%.
01:09We also know that the vast majority of these cancers are caused by ultraviolet damage from the sun.
01:14This means that the use of sunscreen decreases the risk of these skin cancers occurring dramatically.
01:22As a dermatologist, the best sunscreen is the one that someone will actually use.
01:28And unfortunately, this is an area that the United States has fallen behind the rest of the world in approving new sunscreen products.
01:35I know that it has been stated before in this hearing, but Dr. Corrigan-Curry, since 1999, it's over 25 years ago, how many new sunscreen ingredients and formulations has the FDA approved for use in the United States?
01:51We have not approved a new one, but we do have a new order.
01:53That is frightening.
01:54Zero is the answer.
01:56Since 1999.
01:58That was most of my time as a practicing dermatologist in the United States.
02:02No new sunscreens.
02:03Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous consent to introduce into the record letters of support from the Skin Cancer Foundation, AIM at Melanoma, the Sun Educate Coalition, and the PASS Coalition.
02:17Yes, sir, without objection.
02:20These letters represent consensus, consensus support for this bill from physician groups, from the American Academy of Dermatology, melanoma research groups, and those involved in actual day-to-day patient care.
02:36The risk for these patients is real.
02:39I worked in this area.
02:40I saw it every single day of my career as a physician.
02:43For children and adolescents who develop just one single blistering sunburn this summer, they will double their chances of developing melanoma in their lifetime.
02:54One blistering sunburn, double your chances of a potentially deadly disease.
02:59And the FDA has failed for over two decades to keep pace with innovation in this space.
03:04So while I understand the minority does have concerns on environmental issues here, the risk of cancer and ultimately death is something that must be considered in this balance.
03:16Dr. Corrigan-Curry, other countries that regulate sunscreen ingredients as drugs have found ways to ensure high safety standards while ensuring that their populations get access to newest innovative techniques and products.
03:31This represents right now a failure at the FDA.
03:35Are you willing to commit to working with this committee and stakeholders on ways to increase access while ensuring the safety for the American consumer?
03:45We are willing to work.
03:46We want, I think we share the same goal of having additional choices.
03:51We do have very effective sunscreens.
03:53I do want to say that there are sunscreens on the market that are effective.
03:57But we understand that having additional options is important, but also understanding the safety of those options.
04:05Both representatives, Debbie Dingell and I, stand ready to work with everyone on this committee to make sure that the text of this policy
04:13meets the stated goals and have the desired impact at the FDA and account for any patient safety concerns.
04:21We respect and understand that.
04:24But American citizens are dying today as we are holding this hearing from metastatic melanoma.
04:30We can have that impact.
04:33We must take the next step to have that impact.
Be the first to comment