During the years he headed a skin cancer clinic, Dr. Craig Burkhart noticed a “huge” group of unusual patients — women 25-35 years old.
“In almost every single case … you’d ask if they used indoor tanning beds. They’d say yes,” said Burkhart, a pediatric dermatologist in Chapel Hill.
Legislation scheduled for a vote today in the state House is designed to change that.
It calls for prohibiting anyone younger than 18 from using commercial tanning beds, rewriting restrictions that now allow those 14-17 years old to use the beds with parental permission.
If it becomes law, the measure would be a rare move toward more regulation by a Republican-controlled General Assembly that has been more inclined to remove government controls.
The bill would go to the Senate if approved by the House. Its chances of ultimate passage are difficult to gauge, but Republican legislators who are also health care providers are among its primary sponsors and House Speaker Pro Tempore Paul “Skip” Stam is a co-sponsor.
“We’ll see how far it actually goes,” said Rep. Susan Fisher, a Buncombe County Democrat and a bill co-sponsor.
“There seems to be a lot of hoops to jump through on bills that regulate anything this session.”
The measure has drawn opposition from the
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