What are the key takeaways from this The Indicator episode?

Key insights include: **Regulatory classification gap:** The FDA classifies sunscreen as a drug, not a cosmetic, requiring clinical proof of both safety and effectiveness. This standard blocked bemitrizanol despite decades of international use, costing DSM Firmenich at least $18 million and roughly 30 years to gain approval.; **Public health cost of over-caution:** Only 13% of Americans wear sunscreen daily, and 1 in 5 will develop skin cancer by age 70. Economist Alex Tabarrok argues that excessive FDA risk-aversion creates an "invisible graveyard" of preventable deaths that never appear in regulatory cost-benefit calculations.; **Peer approval as a policy fix:** Tabarrok proposes automatically approving drugs and ingredients already cleared by stringent peer regulators like the European Medicines Agency. Senator Ted Cruz introduced legislation along these lines, though it has not advanced, and a 2025 law did broaden accepted evidence types.

What did Charlotte Palomino and Param Salmicinia discuss on The Indicator?

The US FDA has not approved a new sunscreen active ingredient since the late 1990s, leaving Americans with inferior formulations. Skin entrepreneur Charlotte Palermino and economist Alex Tabarrok examine the regulatory bottleneck and propose structural fixes. Key topics include: **Regulatory classification gap:** The FDA classifies sunscreen as a drug, not a cosmetic, requiring clinical proof of both safety and effectiveness. This standard blocked bemitrizanol despite decades of international use, costing DSM Firmenich at least $18 million and roughly 30 years to gain approval.; **Public health cost of over-caution:** Only 13% of Americans wear sunscreen daily, and 1 in 5 will develop skin cancer by age 70. Economist Alex Tabarrok argues that excessive FDA risk-aversion creates an "invisible graveyard" of preventable deaths that never appear in regulatory cost-benefit calculations..

How long is this episode of The Indicator?

This episode is 9 minutes long. SignalCast provides an AI-generated summary so you can get the key insights in about 3 minutes.

The Indicator

Why doesn't the US have better sunscreen?

July 20, 2026

9 min episode · 2 min read

Charlotte Palomino,Param Salmicinia,Alex Tabarrok

Episode

9 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Health & Wellness, Relationships, Startups

AI-Generated Summary

Published Jul 20, 2026

Key Takeaways

✓Regulatory classification gap: The FDA classifies sunscreen as a drug, not a cosmetic, requiring clinical proof of both safety and effectiveness. This standard blocked bemitrizanol despite decades of international use, costing DSM Firmenich at least $18 million and roughly 30 years to gain approval.
✓Public health cost of over-caution: Only 13% of Americans wear sunscreen daily, and 1 in 5 will develop skin cancer by age 70. Economist Alex Tabarrok argues that excessive FDA risk-aversion creates an "invisible graveyard" of preventable deaths that never appear in regulatory cost-benefit calculations.
✓Peer approval as a policy fix: Tabarrok proposes automatically approving drugs and ingredients already cleared by stringent peer regulators like the European Medicines Agency. Senator Ted Cruz introduced legislation along these lines, though it has not advanced, and a 2025 law did broaden accepted evidence types.
✓Citizen advocacy accelerates legislation: Charlotte Palermino mobilized social media audiences to contact Congress, partnered with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on a bipartisan push, and helped pass a 2025 law expanding acceptable safety evidence, directly contributing to bemitrizanol's June 2025 FDA approval.

What It Covers

The US FDA has not approved a new sunscreen active ingredient since the late 1990s, leaving Americans with inferior formulations. Skin entrepreneur Charlotte Palermino and economist Alex Tabarrok examine the regulatory bottleneck and propose structural fixes.

Key Questions Answered

•Regulatory classification gap: The FDA classifies sunscreen as a drug, not a cosmetic, requiring clinical proof of both safety and effectiveness. This standard blocked bemitrizanol despite decades of international use, costing DSM Firmenich at least $18 million and roughly 30 years to gain approval.
•Public health cost of over-caution: Only 13% of Americans wear sunscreen daily, and 1 in 5 will develop skin cancer by age 70. Economist Alex Tabarrok argues that excessive FDA risk-aversion creates an "invisible graveyard" of preventable deaths that never appear in regulatory cost-benefit calculations.
•Peer approval as a policy fix: Tabarrok proposes automatically approving drugs and ingredients already cleared by stringent peer regulators like the European Medicines Agency. Senator Ted Cruz introduced legislation along these lines, though it has not advanced, and a 2025 law did broaden accepted evidence types.
•Citizen advocacy accelerates legislation: Charlotte Palermino mobilized social media audiences to contact Congress, partnered with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on a bipartisan push, and helped pass a 2025 law expanding acceptable safety evidence, directly contributing to bemitrizanol's June 2025 FDA approval.

Notable Moment

Tabarrok reframes the thalidomide disaster — historically cited as proof the FDA saves lives — arguing that the resulting culture of extreme precaution has caused far more deaths through delayed approvals than the drug itself ever did abroad.

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Episode Transcript

NPR. Charlotte Palomino runs a company called Dew. Dew is a clinical skincare brand. We like She's also popular on TikTok and Instagram. I don't know. Is skin influencer a bit too crass to say? How would you say that? Yes. No. I mean, I talk a lot about skin care on the Internet. And so, yes, I try to influence people on purchasing decisions. In 2018, Charlotte was in a specialty skincare shop, and she tried on a Japanese sunscreen. I remember putting it on my face and being like, what is this? Biore UV Aqua incredible texture. It has a beautiful cooling watery effect. And I remember I applied so much on my face. It was then that Charlotte learned that The United States just doesn't have great sunscreens. Unlike the rest of the world, the Food and Drug Administration hadn't approved a new sunscreen ingredient since the late nineties. And this means that the sunscreen here is gloopier and stickier, discouraging people to use it. It also means The US is behind on the effectiveness of its sunscreens, which is important because there's more than five million cases of skin cancer diagnosed in The US each year. Sunscreen could have prevented many of those cases. This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Darienne Woods. And I'm Waylon Wong. Today on the show, how to get better sunscreen. We look at why The US went into a sunscreen freeze, what this tells us about American regulation, and one economist proposal to fix the burning problem. This message comes from Amazon Health. Late night Internet searches about health issues can send anyone into a spiral. There's another way to get help. Amazon Health AI can connect your symptoms with your medical history, and it can even get you care twenty four seven. So stop the endless search and get answers and care right when you need it. Amazon Health AI is here. Health care just got less painful. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Vanguard. Every day, shareholders meet to discuss important matters about the companies you invest in. Now you can make your voice heard too. Vanguard Investor Choice makes it easy to set your proxy voting preference for your eligible Vanguard index funds. Visit vanguard.com/investorchoice to learn more. Vanguard investors own shares of their index funds, and those funds own shares of the companies they invest in. Vanguard Marketing Corporation distributor. When you interview a skincare influencer, you have to ask for tips. Of course. What's one piece of skincare advice you give me? I I use nothing apart from daily sunscreen. You are doing so great. What? So I was looking at the stats. It's a ridiculous number. Like, only 13% of people in America are wearing sunscreen daily. So I'm already in the top 13%, of treatment. Paul Rudd. Oh. Paul Rudd, ageless skin care icon. I also wear sunscreen on my face every day. Look. But, you know, she …

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