Scandal Rocks American Academy of Dermatology
Indoor Tanning Association demands dermatologists come clean about lucrative ties to sunscreen industry
Last month, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) was rocked by a pay-for-play scandal after a group of prestigious dermatologists exposed the Academy’s “Seal of Recognition" program as a “shocking conflict of interest.”
The AAD's “Seal of Recognition” program charges companies thousands of dollars for the simple “privilege” of displaying the Academy's logo on sun-protection products. Similar to a scandal involving the American Medical Association in the late 1990s, companies must pay a $10,000 fee per product to apply for the logo and an additional $10,000 annual fee per product to use it.
Dr. A. Bernard Ackerman, who received the AAD’s prestigious Master Dermatologist award in 2004, has led opposition to the program.
“I am revolted by it,” he told Dermatology Times. “The patient should never be used as a vehicle for self-aggrandizement by either an individual physician or an association of physicians.”
Dr. Peter C. Lombardo echoed Dr. Ackerman’s criticisms:
"I am very much against it. I think it has no value whatsoever. The (academy) does not have an independent testing organization that tests one product against the other and finds out which deserves the Seal of Recognition. And they accept the data from whatever company is willing to pay the fee."
Despite the controversy surrounding the issue, the AAD’s Board of Directors refuses to put the issue up to a vote of the membership. Instead, the Board hosted a closed-door question and answer session at their annual meeting where Dr. Ackerman revealed that many members of the Board were paid consultants to the sunscreen industry.
Find out more here:
Dermatologists' Seal-for-Sale Program Stirs Recriminations
Doctor objects to AAD logo appearing on sun protection products
Find out more about the American Academy of Dermatology
Sunscreen Industry Front Group Defines Hypocrisy
Skin Cancer Foundation hosts annual conference at tropical resort
What’s good for the goose is apparently not good for the gander. This month, the Skin Cancer Foundation, which is a Madison Avenue marketing front group for the sunscreen and cosmetics industry, is hosting its annual junket in sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico. Given the Foundation’s abstinence-only attitude to sun exposure, we’re left guessing how they will play golf or lay by the pool without getting at least a little tan.
The Skin Cancer Foundation isn’t alone in indulging a little sun worship. Darrell Rigel, spokesman for the American Academy of Dermatology (and himself a consultant to a number of sunscreen companies) spoke at the “sunny” South Beach Symposium on dermatology and aesthetics in February 2008.