August 13, 2009

New Law Aims to Reduce Teen Health Risks

‘‘Michelle’s Law’ requires parent’s OK for children to use tanning beds

WILMINGTON --   Gov. Jack Markell signed legislation Thursday that seeks to protect Delaware children from health risks associated with indoor tanning.
 
The new law is known as “Michelle’s Law” in honor of Michelle Rigney, a 22-year-old college student who died in 2008 of skin cancer. Michelle’s mother, Sherrill Rigney, said she hopes the bill can save another family from the pain that her family has experienced.
 
“Michelle dedicated her life to raising funds for research of melanoma,” Mrs. Rigney said. “If she were here, she’d be thrilled to see something that might keep another teen-ager out of a tanning bed … This is a great bill. If someone had come to us and said this is what melanoma can do, we never would have let our daughter tan.”

Under the new law, adolescents under the age of 14 will not be able to use tanning salons, unless it’s medically necessary, and teens between 14 and 18 will have to have their parents or guardians sign a consent slip clearing them to use tanning beds. Under the bill, parental consent will have to be renewed annually. That form would be required to include the health risks associated with indoor tanning.  The Department of Health and Social Services will be responsible for enforcing the new law.

“Today we ensure that what Michelle Rigney worked so hard during her far too few days to achieve – and what her parents worked so hard in her name to continue - will become part of our law and part of her legacy,” Markell said.
Sen. Bethany Hall-Long, D-Middletown, the bill’s primary Senate sponsor, said that it is important to get young people and their parents clear information on the risks of tanning.

“As a nurse and an American Cancer Society volunteer, I know the health risks of tanning in general and the specific risks of indoor tanning, and I know we have to do more to make our children and young adults aware of those dangers before any added damage occurs,” said Hall-Long, who is the chairwoman of the Delaware Cancer Consortium’s public education committee. “We also know that young people think they’re invincible and that skin cancer can’t happen to them. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”

Twenty-nine states, including Maryland and New Jersey, have already enacted laws either banning or restricting teen access to tanning salon, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a nonpartisan organization that tracks and advises lawmakers on policy issues. Currently 20 states, including Pennsylvania, have pending legislation either regulating or tightening existing regulations on teens’ use of tanning salons.

The issue is a priority item for the American Cancer Society, which is pushing the legislation nationally.

State Rep. Dennis E. Williams, D-Talleyville, the lead sponsor of the measure in the House said the trend makes sense.

“Part of our job is helping protect the public’s health and safety,” Williams said. “There’s a whole range of risk factors from skin type and sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation that goes into deciding whether someone gets skin cancer. But we should do everything we can to make sure people have all the facts before they decide to do something that’s potentially risky.”