WASHINGTON-The full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the mobile-phone industry’s motion to re-hear arguments in five class-action headset lawsuits that a divided three-judge panel remanded to state courts last month, setting the stage for a possible battle in the nation’s high court.
Despite the latest 4th Circuit ruling, industry lawyers still may be able to keep the headset lawsuits from returning to state courts in Maryland, New York, Georgia and Pennsylvania for further litigation. On April 15, attorneys for wireless carriers and manufacturers asked the 4th Circuit to stay the headset ruling pending a petition to have the U.S. Supreme Court review the case. According to one industry lawyer, federal appeals courts generally grant such requests. Former independent counsel Kenneth Starr is heading industry’s defense efforts in the headset case.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed and are exploring our options,” said Joe Farren, a spokesman for CTIA, the wireless trade association.
Plaintiffs argue wireless firms have long known about health uncertainties associated with cell-phone use and therefore should have supplied consumers from the start with headsets to reduce their exposure to handset radiation. They want industry to supply wireless subscribers with headsets and to compensate those who already have purchased them. In addition, the plaintiffs seek punitive damages.
In March 2003, U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake of Baltimore dismissed the five class-action suits after determining the actions were pre-empted by federal law. The plaintiffs, led by attorneys at the law firm of trial lawyer and Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, subsequently appealed the ruling to the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Va. The case was argued Oct. 1 and decided on March 16.
The cellular industry says scientists largely have failed to find an association between cell phones and cancer or other diseases. The federal radiation-exposure standard has been upheld by the courts. Government and industry are working on a new standard that would be based on a different calculation for determining safe levels of mobile-phone radiation.
On a related front, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers official has questioned the firefighters’ union about a study that suggested six firefighters in California suffered medical problems due to five years of radiation exposure from cell sites at stations, a claim in a position paper that will be used by the union to solicit $1 million for research.
“With regard to the study that was conducted by Dr. Gunnar Heuser of firefighters exposed to RF fields, the COMAR membership is unfamiliar with it,” said Ruth Douglas Miller, chair of the IEEE committee on man and radiation (COMAR), in an April 14 letter to Harold Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
Miller added, “If it has been published in a scientific journal, we would appreciate learning the name and date of the publication. COMAR’s membership includes experts across a variety of biological and engineering sciences, and seeks to monitor all relevant research relating to the biological effects of exposure to electromagnetic energy. To ensure widespread access to information, and encourage discussion and further exploration, study authors seek publication in scientific journals. We suggest that the author submit the paper to a peer-reviewed scientific or medical journal, to begin a dialogue and share the information.”
The IAFF recently issued an official position paper on firefighters and cell towers as it begins to seek funding for research on whether cell towers at fire stations pose health risks to fire fighters. At its annual conference in Boston last August, the IAFF called for a moratorium on new cell towers on fire stations until possible health effects can be examined.
According to IAFF, Heuser, an M.D. and PhD. of Agoura Hills, Calif., conducted brain scans and computerized psychological testing to investigate neurological symptoms of firefighters such as slowed reaction time, lack of focus, lack of impulse control, severe headaches, anesthesia-like sleep, sleep deprivation, depression and tremors. The brain scans, according to IAFF, revealed a pattern of abnormal change that was concentrated over a wider area than would normally be seen in brains of individuals exposed to toxic inhalation, as might be expected from fighting fires. IAFF said Heuser concluded the only plausible explanation at this time would be RF radiation exposure.
