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WASHINGTON (AP) —
Anyone under the age of 18 would be barred from using indoor tanning equipment, under a federal proposal to help reduce skin cancer linked to the devices.
The Food and Drug Administration also wants to require tanning bed users to sign consent forms acknowledging the risks of the radiation-emitting devices. Tanning salons and other businesses would have to collect the forms from customers before their first tanning session and every six months thereafter.
Friday's announcement follows years of prodding by dermatologists and medical groups for bolder action on indoor tanning, citing rising rates of skin cancer among teens and people in their 20s, particularly women. The leading professional group for skin specialists applauded the news.
"Restricting teens' access to indoor tanning and educating all users about the dangers of tanning devices are critical steps to preventing skin cancer," said Dr. Mark Lebwohl, president of the American Academy of Dermatology, in a printed statement.
Twenty three states already have laws banning minors from using indoor tanning equipment.
Last year the FDA required tanning beds and sun lamps to carry new warnings advising that they should not be used by anyone under age 18. The FDA has regulated tanning machines for over 30 years, but had previously taken little action to restrict their use.
"Despite available information about its adverse effects, many high schoolers continue to use indoor tanning devices," the FDA's Dr. Vasum Peiris told reporters. "Now we're taking further steps."
The FDA would be able to seize machines and fine businesses that don't follow the rules, once finalized, according to Peiris, who is a chief medical officer in the agency's device center.
The Indoor Tanning Association said decisions about tanning should be left to parents, not the government.
"We are concerned that the proposed requirements will burden our members with additional unnecessary governmental costs in an already difficult economic climate," states the group, which represents makers of tanning beds and related products.
Nearly 74,000 new cases of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, are expected to be diagnosed this year, and the disease is expected to cause nearly 10,000 deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. While most cases are diagnosed in people in their 40s and 50s, the disease is linked to sun exposure at a young age.
Indoor tanning beds deliver between 10 to 15 times more ultraviolet radiation than the midday sun. And people who use indoor tanning equipment face a 59 percent higher risk of melanoma than those who do not, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.
About 1.6 million U.S. teenagers tan indoors each year at more than 33,000 tanning salons, gyms, spas and other facilities that offer sun lamps and tanning beds, according to figures cited by the FDA.
A second proposal from the agency would require manufacturers of tanning equipment to make additional changes to their machines, including: bolder, easier-to-read warnings and mandating an emergency shut off switch.
The FDA will take public comments on its proposals for 90 days before beginning work to finalize them. There is no deadline for putting them in place.
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. (AP) —
In Ted Cruz's campaign world, it's Santa who tells people what he wants for Christmas: Their valuable voter contact information.
Cruz is on an eight-state, 12-city "Christmas Tour," and at each stop, the campaign plans to have Santa Claus on hand — posing for pictures and kissing babies. But to see him, they'll have to enter their name, email and zip code into the campaign's website. It's a gift that keeps on giving for the Cruz campaign, as they build a voter database to gauge their message, and garner donations and pleas for support.
"It's a great way to make sure we're reaching out and touching as many people as possible," said Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier.
Frazier said the campaign recognized it needed to do a better job collecting voter information after an August bus tour of southern states where about 19,000 people showed up, but from which they got contacts for only 14,000. About 1,300 people signed up to attend the Mechanicsville event, the campaign said, many of them with young children in tow.
On the heels of his newfound lead in a key Iowa poll ahead of the Feb. 1 caucus, Cruz's aggressive holiday tour comes as many cite his recent gains nationwide — although still falling short to GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
Katherine Schupe brought her two sons, 4-year-old Jonathan and 18-month-old Harrison, to see both Santa and Cruz in Mechanicsville on Friday.
"Say Ted Cruz!" she said, as her children waved mini American flags while sitting on Santa's lap next to a Christmas tree, wreath and red poinsettia.
"That was definitely a good perk there," Schupe said, holding a card with the website details where she can view the picture later. "He's a great-looking Santa."
Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe first developed the campaigning Santa idea. When he pitched it the week before the tour, "everyone was just kind of silent," Frazier said.
The Texas senator's campaign has hired Santas for each city in its tour, after initially considering and then rejecting the idea of having Cruz's gray-bearded political director, Mark Campbell, take on the role.
The effort is in line with the campaign's focus on collecting detailed information about their current and potential supporters, a strategy in line with Barack Obama's hugely-popular approach to his 2008 run for president — one that others have been attempting to duplicate with varying degrees of success.
Santa also made an appearance Thursday night in St. Paul, Minn., where he sat next to a Christmas tree, in front of a fireplace. That Santa was a Cruz supporter and filled the role for free, Frazier said.
The Virginia Santa, Mechanicsville resident Robin Hood — his real name — joined Cruz at a news conference before his rally. "We want to see which reporters have been naughty and which have been nice," Cruz joked with the media.
Hood, meanwhile, was coy about where his political allegiance lies.
"I can't really say," Hood said. "It's another one of those Santa secrets."
NEW YORK (AP) —
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has set a box office record with an estimated $57 million from Thursday night shows.
The Walt Disney Co.'s estimate on Friday easily surpassed the previous Thursday night record of $43.5 million by 2011's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2."
The movie's international rollout, which began Wednesday, has brought in a total of $72.7 million. That includes the biggest single day ever in the United Kingdom, where it made an estimated $14.4 million. The film cost about $200 million to make, according to industry estimates.
The early figures suggest "The Force Awakens" is on course to exceed the record domestic opening of "Jurassic World," which debuted with $208.8 million in June.
J.J. Abrams' seventh chapter in George Lucas's space saga arrived with the kind of hoopla and anticipation that few films have ever matched. Costumed, lightsaber-wielding fans have lined up around blocks, from Jakarta to Paris, to be among the first to see "The Force Awakens" (and hopefully avoid any spoilers from its intensely guarded plot).
In North America, the film sold a record $100 million worth of presale tickets before Thursday previews began at approximately 7 p.m. EST. Playing in 4,134 theaters, "The Force Awakens" is the widest December release ever attempted.
3-D and Imax screenings are helping to propel the record gross. Disney said that 47 percent of the box office came from 3-D showings and $5.7 million from Imax screens.
A lot is riding on the film for Disney, which paid $4.06 billion for Lucasfilm in 2012. Sequels and spinoffs are already in development for years to come, not to mention an entire corner of Disneyland devoted to the franchise.
Strong reviews for the film, which is set 30 years after "Return of the Jedi," have added to the fervor for "The Force Awakens." The American Film Institute listed it among its top 10 films of the year.
That strong word of mouth will help "The Force Awakens" attract the kind of repeat viewings that made James Cameron's "Avatar" and "Titanic" the highest grossing films of all time. Whether "The Force Awakens" can come close to the global hauls of those films ($2.8 billion for "Avatar" and $2.2 billion for "Titanic") won't be clear for weeks.