Panel to consider consolidating lawsuits over hearing loss from Bluetooth headsets

A panel of federal judges is set to hear arguments Thursday in Miami on whether to consolidate more than a dozen lawsuits against Motorola Inc. and other Bluetooth technology vendors. The suits allege wireless headsets can cause hearing loss and blame companies for failing to warn consumers about such a health risk.
Thirteen Bluetooth hearing-loss suits are pending in California, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will consider a plaintiff’s motion to combine all cases in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In additional to Motorola, others named as defendants include GN Jabra North America and Plantronics Inc.
A similar class-action suit was filed last year against Apple Computer Inc. in connection with its popular iPod music player.
The hearing-loss litigation poses brand new legal exposure to wireless companies at a time when they appear to have brain cancer litigation mostly under control.