Consumer Choice and FDA Regulation of Sunlamp Products

Abstract

This paper explores the history of FDA regulation of sunlamps since 1974, identifies and critiques the overriding rationale of consumer choice as the background for relatively lax FDA regulations, and discusses the possible ways in which FDA regulation of sunlamps can change to better suit the FDA’s role in protecting consumers from dangerous products. Proposals for sunlamp regulation are identified and analyzed, leading to the conclusion that more effective regulation of sunlamp use requires at least some abandonment of the consumer choice rationale in sunlamp regulation.