Comments on: The American Academy of Dermatolgy’s Seal of Recognition for (Some) Sunscreens http://thedermblog.com/2008/03/19/the-american-academy-of-dermatolgys-seal-of-recognition-for-some-sunscreens/ Smarter Skin Care Sat, 31 Jul 2010 04:17:17 -0600 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Trusted.MD Network http://thedermblog.com/2008/03/19/the-american-academy-of-dermatolgys-seal-of-recognition-for-some-sunscreens/comment-page-1/#comment-1439 Trusted.MD Network Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:35:34 +0000 http://thedermblog.com/2008/03/19/the-american-academy-of-dermatolgys-seal-of-recognition-for-some-sunscreens/#comment-1439 <strong>MedBlog Power 8...</strong> 03/19/2008 - 03/26/2008Next revision: 03/26/2008 (Key: Rank, Blog name, Last week's rank, Post of note)... MedBlog Power 8…

03/19/2008 – 03/26/2008Next revision: 03/26/2008

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]]> By: Dr. Benabio http://thedermblog.com/2008/03/19/the-american-academy-of-dermatolgys-seal-of-recognition-for-some-sunscreens/comment-page-1/#comment-1352 Dr. Benabio Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:05:14 +0000 http://thedermblog.com/2008/03/19/the-american-academy-of-dermatolgys-seal-of-recognition-for-some-sunscreens/#comment-1352 Dr Val, Yes, Aveeno did pay for the review. The Academy reviews any product submitted provided they pay the fee. Many agree with you that collecting a fee, even if used for administrative or for educational purposes taints the AAD. The academy ostensibly makes it fair by making the fees a sliding scale based on the size of the company. Thanks for your insightful comments. Dr Val,
Yes, Aveeno did pay for the review. The Academy reviews any product submitted provided they pay the fee.

Many agree with you that collecting a fee, even if used for administrative or for educational purposes taints the AAD.

The academy ostensibly makes it fair by making the fees a sliding scale based on the size of the company.

Thanks for your insightful comments.

]]> By: Dr. Val http://thedermblog.com/2008/03/19/the-american-academy-of-dermatolgys-seal-of-recognition-for-some-sunscreens/comment-page-1/#comment-1304 Dr. Val Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:04:25 +0000 http://thedermblog.com/2008/03/19/the-american-academy-of-dermatolgys-seal-of-recognition-for-some-sunscreens/#comment-1304 I have mixed feelings about this. In theory, there's nothing wrong with a product being commended for consumer safety by a group of academic experts. The question is - did Aveeno pay the Academy for the review? Does the Academy plan to review ALL sunscreens and award their seal to ALL deserving brands? What concerns me here is that once you start recommending certain brands, you need to consider (objectively) all of them for fairness. If the AAD is not planning to do that (or if they're receiving $ for reviews without making that clear) then this could be inappropriate. I don't have enough info to know what to make of this. But I'd hate to think that smaller companies with an equally laudable product wouldn't get the seal because they couldn't afford the review fees... That wouldn't really do consumers much good, but could contribute to prejudice against small businesses. I have mixed feelings about this. In theory, there’s nothing wrong with a product being commended for consumer safety by a group of academic experts. The question is – did Aveeno pay the Academy for the review? Does the Academy plan to review ALL sunscreens and award their seal to ALL deserving brands?

What concerns me here is that once you start recommending certain brands, you need to consider (objectively) all of them for fairness. If the AAD is not planning to do that (or if they’re receiving $ for reviews without making that clear) then this could be inappropriate. I don’t have enough info to know what to make of this. But I’d hate to think that smaller companies with an equally laudable product wouldn’t get the seal because they couldn’t afford the review fees… That wouldn’t really do consumers much good, but could contribute to prejudice against small businesses.

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