Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | Trial

Lawsuits call for more information on dangers of cell phone radiation.

Article Excerpt
Cellular phones have become so commonplace that many people wonder how they once lived without them. Mobile phones are convenient--and, to some, annoying--but no one doubts they have changed the way people communicate. But by becoming so reliant on this new technology, are cell phone users ignoring a potential health hazard?

"This is a public health issue, in the sense that when you put the cell phone to your head with the antenna adjacent to your head, you are putting radiation into your head," said Michael Allweiss of New Orleans, who represents plaintiffs in cell phone litigation.

Lawsuits that have tried to show that cell phones cause brain cancer have met with limited success. Now, a new class of plaintiffs is asking a broader question: Are cell phone manufacturers negligently failing to warn of more general danger from radiation and to inform users about the benefits of using headsets? This spring, the Fourth Circuit reinstated five class actions on this very question.

The health effects of cell phone use have been debated for years. The radio frequency (RF) that the phones use to communicate is a form of electromagnetic energy. When a user holds the phone to his or her head, the soft tissues of the head absorb some of this energy (some researchers say as much as 80 percent). Studies have established that high levels of RF radiation cause adverse health effects, but no consensus has emerged on the effects of low-level exposure of the type cell phone users experience.

The plaintiffs in the recently reinstated class actions, unlike those in previous cell phone suits, do not have brain or eye cancer. The named plaintiffs claim to represent all past and future cell phone buyers and lessees who were not provided a headset when...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!