On August 24th, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia threw out six brain-cancer lawsuits against the mobile-phone industry. Wireless carriers and manufacturers are now able to breathe a little easier now that these mulitbillion dollar lawsuits have been dismissed.
The six suits have been juggled between the Superior Court and federal court since they were filed several years ago. The decision to dismiss the suits was based on jurisdictional grounds. Judge Cheryl Long agreed with the wireless industry and the FCC, stating that the complaints were pre-empted by federal law. This ruling is the largest favorable ruling for the wireless industry since a 2002 federal court decision that tossed out an $800 million brain-cancer lawsuit against wireless companies due to a lack of scientific evidence.
Long was unequivocal in her decision.
“This is not a close question. Having found that multiple alternative pre-emption doctrines are controlling, this court has no discretion to allow the claims to proceed any further,” stated Long in the 69-page decision.
The CTIA declined comment, stating only that it would let the ruling speak for itself.
There is still no indication of whether the plaintiffs will seek an appeal.
Jeffrey Morganroth, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he wanted to review the ruling before commenting.
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