The nation's top medical official says a generation of bad tanning habits has led to a surge in the deadliest form of skin cancer. For the first time, acting U.S. Surgeon General Boris Lushniak released a "call to action" report Tuesday labeling skin cancer a "major health problem that requires immediate action." The report said overexposure to ultraviolet rays — whether outdoors or in a tanning salon — has lead to a 200 percent spike in melanoma-related deaths since 1973. The report also points out that every year in the U.S. nearly 5 million people are treated for some form of skin cancer — at a cost of around $8.1 billion — and of those cancers, melanoma causes the most deaths at 9,000 per year. Full transcript >>
