By Townhall Chicago News Staff
The American Medical Association’s House of Delegates on Sunday adopted new policies addressing unapproved synthetic peptides, sunscreen regulation, electric bike and scooter safety and worker lung disease from engineered stone countertops at the organization’s Interim Meeting in Orlando.
The slate of policies covers a range of public health and safety issues and reflects mounting physician concern over gaps in federal regulation, according to the AMA, which is headquartered in Chicago.
On synthetic peptides, the AMA will urge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration and other federal authorities to immediately rescind policies that ease restrictions on compounding and distributing synthetic peptides that lack FDA approval.
“By allowing pharmacies to compound unapproved synthetic peptide substances without sufficient evidence of their safety and efficacy, patients are at increased risk of serious harm,” AMA Board Member Ilse R. Levin said in a news release. “These substances have not undergone the rigorous testing required of FDA-approved drugs.”
Under the new policy, the AMA will also collaborate with federal agencies, state medical boards and state boards of pharmacy to enforce strict regulatory oversight and pursue enforcement actions against compounding pharmacies, direct-to-consumer telehealth platforms and online dispensaries distributing unapproved formulations.
On sunscreen, the AMA adopted policy calling for timely implementation of federal reforms for new sunscreen ingredient applications, including consideration of international safety data and scientifically validated testing methods. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, with approximately one in five Americans developing it in their lifetime, according to the release.
“We should be able to modernize the way we evaluate new sunscreen ingredients without compromising safety,” AMA Board Member Sheila Rege said in the release. “Giving Americans greater access to safe and effective broad-spectrum sunscreens is a practical step we can take to help prevent skin cancer.”
For e-bikes and e-scooters, the AMA adopted policy advocating for Congress to establish a task force to develop recommendations on how states should regulate the devices. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics showed a 33 percent increase in e-bicycle and a 15 percent increase in e-scooter accidents, emergency room visits and fatalities among children, according to the release.
The policy recommendations include classification and labeling, age restrictions, universal helmet use, required rider safety education, motor power limits, night visibility requirements and safeguards against tampering.
“As more people ride e-bikes and e-scooters, we’re seeing a significant increase in injuries and deaths associated with their use, particularly among children under age 12,” Levin said.
On engineered stone countertops, the AMA adopted policy supporting a prohibition on products containing more than 1 percent crystalline silica. Engineered stone, the most common countertop material in the U.S., contains over 90 percent crystalline silica. Cutting or grinding the material can create fine dust that causes silicosis, an incurable occupational lung disease.
“Workers are developing an incurable lung disease that can progress to respiratory failure and sometimes, death, often at a young age,” Rege said.
The AMA Interim Meeting ran Nov. 6-9 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. Additional policies adopted at the meeting addressed deprescribing, insurer downcoding, physician moral injury and online health misinformation.
Source: American Medical Association
