WASHINGTON-Wireless Technology Research L.LC., the organization headed by Dr. George Carlo that clashed with the cellular industry after researchers found genetic damage from mobile-phone radiation, has entered into a settlement agreement in an Illinois class-action lawsuit that would clear it of any wrongdoing and give Carlo $250,000 in seed money to establish a post-market surveillance program.
The proposed settlement, which now goes before the presiding judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., represents a potentially severe legal setback for the mobile-phone industry on several levels.
First, the proposed settlement, if approved, would be the first of its kind in wireless health-related litigation. To date, the mobile-phone industry has neither lost nor settled any health lawsuit brought against it.
The suit’s class-certified last July-encompasses millions of mobile-phone subscribers (affiliated with 122 cellular carriers) whose billing records were used without prior consent as part of an epidemiology study performed for WTR-funded by the cellular industry to the tune of $28 million over six years-by Epidemiology Resources Inc. of Massachusetts.
Originally, the Illinois lawsuit-Jerald P. Busse vs. Motorola Inc.-alleged illegal privacy invasion and an industry cover-up of mobile-phone risks. The industry cover-up count has been removed, though plaintiff lawyer Ben Barnow said he will try to reintroduce that allegation at a later stage in the case.
Second, the proposed settlement-which sets aside $1.4 million of the $2 million for the class and gives the class a 50-percent discount on a book about alleged wireless hazards by Carlo and Martin Schram-would give Carlo a launching pad to create the kind of registry he unsuccessfully advocated to the cellular industry.
With his research and book, and as a potential expert witness in health-related lawsuits, Carlo already represents a major threat to the cellular industry. The establishment of a registry-a first-of-its kind database of cellular subscribers who would self-report suspected diseases and illnesses from mobile-phone use-could give Carlo a seat at the table and bolster his standing in the cell-phone cancer debate.
Carlo declined comment on the settlement agreement as did Motorola. The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, a defendant in the case, could not be reached for comment.
Under the settlement agreement, which would be printed in USA Today, Lexington Insurance Co. would pay $250,000 into a fund overseen by Carlo’s Science and Public Policy Institute that would be used to leverage additional funds from scientific and charitable foundations for health-based tracking of cell-phone users. Another $150,000 will be deposited into a separate fund for subsequent legal expenses incurred by Carlo. Actress Linda Evans is expected to help promote the post-market surveillance program.
Defendants that remain in the case include Motorola, Ameritech Mobile Communications Inc. (now Cingular Wireless), CTIA and Epidemiology Resources. Carlo was dismissed from the lawsuit a few years ago, but WTR remained a defendant. The settlement would take WTR out of the lawsuit.
CTIA and Carlo continue to feud over the closeout of WTR. Carlo alleges CTIA owes WTR nearly $300,000, money Carlo says needs to be paid to researchers and others.
On a related front, CTIA said it plans this week to announce scientists it has awarded contracts to in connection with a cooperative research agreement with the Food and Drug Administration.
One contract is expected to be granted to North Carolina researchers who found genetic damage from mobile-phone radiation in research studies conducted for WTR.
