Tanning beds have remained popular, despite the controversy they tend to cause with healthcare professionals. The controversies center on the fact that they expose people to forms of light that can cause cancer and, because of that, physicians oftentimes call to have them regulated more strictly. That may become a reality, as the FDA is currently weighting whether or not tanning beds should be subject to stricter regulations.
According to reports, the tanning industry takes in nearly $5 billion every year. These devices have become popular with young people who want to look like they spend hours each day at the beach. Getting a “fake bake” is also popular with people before special events. The safety issues with tanning beds have been longstanding concerns and, in some states, those concerns have led to stricter regulations on the devices.
Understanding Dangerous Products
One of the hallmarks of the stricter regulations that some states have pushed for is a parental consent requirement before people under 18 years of age are allowed to use these devices. This is because some people hold that tanning beds pose threats to people’s health of which they’re not aware. In fact, other proposed regulations include adding very obvious warning labels to the devices. When products are dangerous to consumers, sometimes the best solution is to simply make sure that consumers can make informed choices about whether or not they really want to take the risks associated with the devices.
Understanding Consent and Dangers to Consumers
If you go to the doctor and are prescribed certain medications, the doctor will have to go over the risks associated with those drugs in great detail so that you’re properly informed. If the doctor does not inform you of the potential side effects, they may be vulnerable to being sued. The pharmaceutical company may also be vulnerable to being sued if they failed to disclose the potential side effects of their products to consumers. Examples of this happening include the lawsuits over Vioxx, Accutane, Paxil and other drugs that were found to have potentially deadly side effects that consumers were not always informed of.
Contacting a Personal Injury Lawyer
While people debate whether or not consumers need to be made aware of the dangers of tanning beds, there are plenty of other products out there that pose real dangers to the people that use them. If you believe that you’ve been put in a situation where you were at undue risk because of using a product that was more dangerous than you were led to believe, you may want to consider contacting a personal injury lawyer or product liability attorney.
The US has a free market, but that doesn’t mean that manufacturers are not responsible for the damage that their products cause. If you’ve been injured physically or financially by a product that you had every cause to believe was safe, be sure that you don’t go without talking to an injury attorney. They may be able to help you by preparing a lawsuit against the manufacturer that could win you compensation for your injuries.
If you believe you have been a victim of injury caused by tanning beds, contact Blaine A. (Bat) Tucker at 713-771-5453 for a free case review.