Right now, I don’t believe cell phones cause brain cancer.  I started using a “brick phone” when I was in middle school or high school, and choosing to give up say, my pinky finger or my BlackBerry would be a tough choice.  But, I see that lawsuits alleging that cell phones cause brain cancer are crawling forward:

In a ruling that has grabbed the attention of the product liability and telecommunications bars, the D.C. Court of Appeals last week revived a series of lawsuits by individuals who say they were harmed by cell phone radiation, reversing a lower court decision that found the claims were blocked by federal law.

The court’s opinion in Murray v. Motorola added yet another wrinkle to a debate within U.S. courts over whether national regulations trump state laws when it comes to issues surrounding cell phone safety. In dismissing parts of the cases while preserving others, including a set of consumer protection claims, the decision gave both sides of the case fodder to declare victory. But while the plaintiffs still have a long road before getting to a jury, some lawyers familiar with the decision said the ruling could lead to the filing of even more suits against cell phone companies in Washington’s trial court.

Source: Law.com – D.C. Court of Appeals Resurrects Cell Phone Radiation Cases

What if they do cause brain cancer?  This intrigues me because cell phones are so much a part of modern life that I can’t imagine our government letting lawsuits put the future of cell phones in jeopardy.  As much as I love my cell phones, if they do cause cancer I’d want the victims to have their day in court, but from a policy perspective, should they?  How would we deal with it going forward?  Would we put huge warning labels on the phones when they’re new?  Ban them for minors?  Setup a government compensation fund?  Interesting public policy fodder.