In what could bolster an $800.0 million lawsuit against Motorola Inc. (Austin, TX), Verizon and other major cell phone carriers, a new study published in the latest European Journal of Cancer Prevention found a possible link between older cell phones and brain tumors.
The lawsuit was brought by Christopher Newman, a Maryland doctor stricken with brain cancer, who claims the analog cell phones he used from 1992 to 1998 caused him to develop a cancerous brain tumor. If the case is allowed to go forward, it could open the door to other major lawsuits against the wireless communication industry.
Cell phones are used by 97 million Americans. Digital phones emit radiation in pulses; older analog varieties emit continuous waves. Newer digital phones emit less radiation than older analog models of the sort studied. Three major studies published since December 2000, including one by the US National Cancer Institute, found no harmful health effects from cell phones.
