Senate panel approves sunscreen bill

A key Senate panel advanced a bill to streamline the regulatory process for approving new ingredients for sunscreen.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee unanimously approved the measure by voice vote on Wednesday. Twelve members were present at the time.

{mosads}The Sunscreen Innovation Act, which passed the House in late July, would be the first major update to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) sunscreen approval process since the 1990s.

Some ingredients currently used in sun protection products outside the United States have “languished at the FDA for years,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) in the hearing.

“The bill is critically important because melanoma is at epidemic proportions in the United States,” he said.

The vote in HELP won immediate praise from advocates, who urged bipartisan support for the bill on the Senate floor.

Congress has only a few days to wrap up works before it hopes to adjourn prior to the November elections.