Supreme Court allows class-action suits to go ahead

A decision by the Supreme Court today, could end up costing major phone manufacturers a hefty price. Their decision was to refuse an appeal from the phone giants regarding a lower court decision stating that the manufacturers knew about and hid the risk of radiation emissions from wireless phones from consumers. This simply means that the lawsuits are now free to move ahead.

Studies have shown that wireless phones emit frequency radiation when they are used. Anyone who ever took a history class knows that high levels of radiation are bad. It is less clear, however, what the effects of low levels of radiation are when they are held to the users ear. Health advocates are concerned about the risk of headaches and tumors, but manufacturers point out that no health risks have ever been proven to come from phone use.

There are five class-action suits in question that have been filed, including four at the state level seeking damages including the purchase of headsets or the reimbursement of the purchase for people who already have one. The manufacturers are concerned that if the suits stay at the state level, they will face different emission standards in each state. That would clearly be difficult and expensive to coordinate.