Dermatologists urge tighter rules for tanning beds

Maloney would ultimately like to see tanning beds banned, but changing their classification is an important step, she said, citing research that has shown that squamous cell skin cancer is 2.5 times more common in people who use tanning beds and basal cell cancer is 1.5 times more common.

The dermatologists are also pushing the FDA to prohibit indoor tanning for children under 18 and to require people to give their written informed consent after  being told about the health risks of ultraviolet light exposure. "The real thing that I am going try and drive home is that for every decade earlier that people use tanning beds, there is a 20 percent increase in their odds ratio of getting a squamous cell cancer and a 10 percent increase in their odds ratio of getting basal cell cancer," Maloney said.

The Indoor Tanning Association, a national trade group,  said in a statement that it considers regulations currently in place to be sufficient to protect its customers, noting that many of the country's 18,000 salon owners already use informed consent forms. "The US tanning industry abides by the strongest set of industry regulations found anywhere in the world. Based on what we know today, we believe there is simply not enough information or body of science to warrant changing regulatory policy."

After today's hearings, the General and Plastic Surgery Devices Panel will make a recommendation to the FDA's Medical Devices Advisory Committee.