Scaring people out of the sun is a great example of the law of unintended consequences.

Vitamin D Deficiency:

With so much money being spent to convince Americans to stay out of the sun, its no surprise that we’re seeing about 60 percent of the population with severe vitamin D deficiency.

In fact, a recent study in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences determined that the risks of not getting enough UV light far outweighed the hypothetically minute risk of skin cancer. That’s because getting a healthy tan naturally produces vitamin D, which has been linked to significantly decreasing your risk of contracting internal cancers like lung, kidney, or liver cancer.

Read more about vitamin D deficiency here

...[T]he unintended consequences of current messages directly linking UVR [Ultraviolet Radiation] exposure to CM [melanoma cancer] development may be thwarting the primary intervention goal of reducing tumor-related mortality.

- Dr. Arthur Rhodes, in Dermatologic Therapy

False Sense of Security

Some researchers believe that the public relations campaigns waged by the sunscare industry may be doing more harm that good. They explain that by inextricably linking melanoma to UV light, patients who avoid the sun will have a false sense of security. As a result, they are less likely to see a doctor about a potential tumor. Dr. Arthur Rhodes wrote in Dermatologic Therapy:

If the general public is informed by the scientific community that UVR [ultraviolet radiation] is responsible for CM [melanoma cancer], then the general belief will likely be that all cases of CM are caused by UVR [ultraviolet radiation] exposure. Among patients attending out-patient dermatology clinics for problems unrelated to CM [melanoma cancer], the prevailing views is that all CM [melanoma cancer] are caused by UVR [ultraviolet radiation] exposure (unpublished observations). Patients who avoid the sun and believe URV [ultraviolet radiation] is the only pathway to CM [melanoma cancer] often feel that self-examination and physician screen for CM [melanoma cancer] are unnecessary. As a result of prevailing misconceptions, delay in diagnosis may be more likely for people who have an evolving CM [melanoma cancer] in a sun-protected site.

- Dr. Arthur Rhodes, in Dermatologic Therapy