WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., will hear oral argument in an $800 million brain-cancer lawsuit against wireless firms the week of Sept. 23-26.
Last fall, U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake dismissed Christopher Newman’s lawsuit after finding inadequate scientific evidence to support his claim that his cell phone caused his brain cancer. Nine other brain-cancer suits against the mobile-phone industry are pending before Blake in Baltimore, where there are motions to send the cases back to state courts.
In addition to the Newman case, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering five class-action suits tossed out by Blake in March that seek damages from wireless firms for not supplying consumers with headsets in order to protect them from possible health risks associated with radiation emitted from handsets.
