May 25, 2018 | Stephen Fine, Founder and President
No Clean Pill of Health: A Skin Cancer Scam
In the 19th century, they were called “Snake-Oil Salesmen”; men who traveled from town-to-town pitching useless beverages that they touted as the cure for whatever ails you. They still exist today, except they’re now called “scammers”. And in our contemporary times, they have a wide variety of much more effective tools at their disposal.
Times and technology may have changed; but the practice of morally-divested people trying to scam the public for personal profit has not. Sometimes, despicably, they’re willing to endanger the health of others for money.
Accept No Substitutes
The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has blown the whistle on multiple companies that sell tablets with the promise of protecting those who use them from the effects (including skin cancer and the potentially lethal melanoma) of the sun’s harmful UV rays. The FDA has, thankfully and publicly, lowered the boom on the following companies because their pills offer as much skin protection as eating a Tic Tac would. In other words, they offer none.
- “Advanced Skin Brightening Formula – made by GliSODin Skin Nutrients, of Toronto, Ontario
- Sunsafe Rx – made by Napa Valley Bioscience, of Santa Monica, CA
- Solaricare – made by Pharmacy Direct, Inc., of Dover, DE
- Sunergetic – made by Sunergized LLC, of Woodbury, NY”*
Per the cited source article, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb made his point clearly and concisely with this statement: “There’s no pill or capsule that can replace your sunscreen.” And if there ever is, the FDA will officially let us all know.
Blanket of Insecurity
It’s human nature to believe that, if a product is widely available for sale, it must’ve been approved by some federal agency. But if that were true, you’d never see an (involuntarily) bald man anywhere.
If a person buys a fake watch on a city street, the most it costs him or her is some money lost with a free lesson thrown in. However, to trust your health to a useless medication can cost you your life.
Most people are inherently good, and as such can’t fathom that others might try to profit off risking their health. Unfortunately, those type of people, and companies, are out there. The good news is that today’s tech can work for us, too. Before entrusting your skin’s health (or any other area) to a seemingly magic bean, do some quick online research. Whatever the product, there are sure to be numerous reviews, opinions and/or facts posted about it.
If you’re tanning, either naturally like this person below, artificially (tanning beds), or even out in the sun at all, your best defense is properly applied (and frequently re-applied) sunscreen.
Spending a few minutes to verify health claims is the best investment you can possibly make.
Source article and photo credit: American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org)