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2nd November - WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The
cellular-phone industry Monday failed to stop proceedings
in several state class-action lawsuits over whether radiation
emitted by cellphones is harmful to consumers who use them.
The U.S. Supreme Court turned away appeals from numerous
wireless companies without comment, letting stand a 4th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals decision allowing five state-level
class-action lawsuits to go forward.
The lawsuits name several cellphone makers, including Nokia,
Philips Electronics North America Corp., a unit of Koninklijke
Philips Electronics NV, Qualcomm Inc., AT&T Corp., Ericsson
Inc., Kyocera Wireless Corp., Motorola Inc. and others.
The Fourth Circuit decision reversed a federal trial judge
in Baltimore and allowed consumers to sue the cellphone companies
under Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania
state product-liability laws. At the District Court level,
the industry had won dismissal of the cases after the trial
judge ruled the cases belonged in a federal court rather than
state venues.
Underlying the case is scientific uncertainty over whether
cellphones actually pose a health risk. The federal government,
which regulates wireless signals, says there is no proof of
any risks, but studies are reaching conflicting conclusions
on the issue.
The lawsuits seek, among other things, warnings on cellphones
and reduced radiation emissions from cellphones.
The cellphone industry, in the appeals, said the cases should
be handled by the federal courts rather than state courts
because the Federal Communications Commission regulates cellphone
use in the U.S. In general, corporations prefer to have product-liability
lawsuits heard in federal rather than state court because
of varying legal standards at the state level.
The cases are Nokia v. Naquin, 05-198, and Cellco Partnership
v. Pinney, 05-207.
-By Mark H. Anderson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202 862-9254;
mark.anderson@dowjones.com
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