Subject: Angelos, Carlo join to head up research (Brown)..
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 054311 -0600 (CST)
From: "Roy L. Beavers"
To: emfguru
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.......Dr. Gary Brown has forwarded a VERY interesting news release out of
the cell phone industry internet publication, RCR News......
Notice in the final paragraphs the surprising stance that is being
taken by Metrocall, a subsidiary of AT&T......
I cannot help but comment, also, about how **easily** the establishment
can come up with money to fund research WHICH IT WILL CONTROL......!!!
i.e., Still no INDEPENDENTLY managed research......
Our friends at FDA are again being quoted with the kind of statement
that destroys their credibility with the public...... How can they take
the position that there is "no evidence of risk" when using cell
phones????
Cheerio.....
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
roy@emfguru.com
.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
NEW!!! Website... http://emfguru.com
...................People are more important than profits.................
DO YOU KNOW OF OTHERS WHO SHOULD BE ON THIS LIST???
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 01:07:40 -0500
From: "Dr. Gary Brown"
To: "Roy L. Beavers"
Subject: Angelos, Carlo join to head up research
RCR NEWS
February 25, 2000
Angelos, Carlo join to head up research
program
By Jeffrey Silva
WASHINGTON--Baltimore superlawyer Peter Angelos is teaming with George
Carlo, who headed the industry-funded mobile phone cancer research program
before breaking with the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association
last year, to create a new radiation-protection project that will include
follow-up studies and establish a comprehensive surveillance system to
help identify any health problems among the 84 million wireless
subscribers in the United States.
"We're putting in place a program to follow up the work of the WTR
[Wireless Technology Research L.L.C.]," said Carlo.
The industry insists most research proves mobile phones are safe, but
others point to studies that show DNA and genetic damage from mobile
phone-like radio-frequency radiation.
The radiation protection project is under final review by Angelos, who has
litigated successfully against asbestos and tobacco companies and is
currently pursuing lawsuits involving alleged personal injuries from lead
paint manufacturers and from a tape-erasing machine that produces a strong
electromagnetic field.
Carlo said Angelos, a multimillionaire, offered to fund the radiation
protection project directly. Carlo said he declined, saying such an
arrangement might taint subsequent research. Instead, Carlo said the two
men agreed to raise an initial $6 million through outside fundraising.
Carlo recently wrapped up a six-year, $28 million research program for
CTIA. Most results came up negative, but some findings suggest a possible
link between popular phones and illnesses.
Carlo hinted that he and Angelos might enlist the support of Sen. Patrick
Leahy (D-Vt.), who is pushing legislation that would earmark $10 million
for mobile phone research and give local regulators authority to weigh
health effects in considering applications to build mobile phone towers.
Scientific data collected from Carlo's follow-up research could become the
foundation for class-action lawsuits in the future.
"It [the radiation protection project] is still in a formative stage,"
said Angelos. But he added, "Obviously if the program indicates there is a
connection - a cause and effect between phones and injuries - then
obviously we would go forward [with litigation]."
Carlo's program includes a passive surveillance
system, which would entail advertising, a Web site and a toll-free
telephone number to collect information from mobile phone users who
suspect health problems from their phones.
In addition, an active surveillance system will be put in place that looks
at the mortality rate of analog and digital mobile phone users from 1995
through 1999. The program also may include screening of individuals
identified through either the passive or active surveillance system for
specific clinical conditions so that expeditious treatment can be given.
Carlo has targeted additional mobile phone research needs he claims are
not being addressed by the World Health Organization, the European
Commission and other programs funded by the wireless industry.
As a start, Carlo plans to conduct the following studies:
** Case-control study of adult-onset leukemia. Carlo
said a peer-reviewed protocol for this study has been developed under
the WTR and investigators have been identified at Boston University.
** Clinical study of wireless phone interference
among implanted cardiac defibrillator patients. Carlo said a peer-review
protocol for this study was developed under WTR and investigators at the
Mayo Clinic are prepared to proceed.
** Cohort study of brain function impairment and
other health outcomes. Carlo said a protocol for a community cohort study
was developed under WTR and could be adapted to this study.
** Studies of the impact of radio-frequency
radiation on children. Carlo said next to no research has been conducted
in this area, despite the growing popularity of mobile phones among
non-adults.
** Studies on the impact of RF radiation on pregnant
women, developing embryos and fetuses.
Jo-Anne Basile, vice president for external and industry relations at
CTIA, disputed Carlo's contention that CTIA blocked him from (1) setting
up a post-market surveillance system; (2) conducting leukemia studies and
(3) studying potential interference from mobile phones to cardiac
defibrillators.
"I'm not sure the post-market surveillance mode sets well for wireless,
said Basile. She said CTIA asked Carlo for a post-market surveillance
proposal, but he did not provide one.
"To say there's an absence of data on this is not totally correct," said
Basile. She said epidemiology studies are, in fact, in process overseas.
Basile said she could not recall Carlo asking CTIA to investigate any link
between mobile phones and adult leukemia. She added Carlo's main task
was to conduct biological result, not the kind of interterference research
conducted by the University of Oklahoma.
The decision by Angelos and Carlo to go forward with additional mobile
phone health research comes on the heels of a new federal appeals court
ruling that affirmed Federal Communications Commission RF safety
exposure guidelines. In addition, a new published study - funded by
Motorola Inc. - failed to find an increased rate of brain cancer or other
diseases among nearly 200,000 Motorola workers from 1976 to 1996.
Basile is working with the Food and Drug Administration to finalize a
cooperative research pact in which CTIA will fund research to repeat two
Carlo studies that had positive findings.
On a parallel track, FDA has made new recommendations for mobile
phone health studies. Mobile phone research being requested by FDA is
broader than that agreed upon by FDA and CTIA.
"Animal experiments are crucial because meaningful data will not be
available from epidemiological studies for many years due to the long
latency period between exposure to a carcinogen and the diagnosis of a
tumor," stated FDA in a recommendation to the National Toxicology
Program published in the Federal Register on Feb. 17.
The NTP is a unit of the National Institute for Environmental Health
Sciences, itself a part of the National Institutes for Health.
The FDA, in some of the strongest language to date on the topic, said
FCC radio-frequency radiation guidelines "are based on protection from
acute injury from thermal effects of RFR exposure, and may not be
protective against any non-thermal effects of chronic exposures."
FDA went on to say, "[T]here is currently insufficient scientific basis
for concluding either that wireless communication technologies are safe or
that they pose a risk to millions of users."
The 84 million mobile phone subscribers and the 25,000 that sign up daily,
noted FDA, "translates into a potentially significant health problem
should the use of these device even slightly increase the risk of adverse
health effects."
Most of the 29 studies cited by FDA were conducted prior to 1993, when
the CTIA erected WTR.
At least one top wireless player appears to be breaking with industry and
taking a proactive approach to mobile phone health questions. Metrocall
Inc., a leading paging carrier and formidable mobile phone reseller for
AT&T Corp. and Sprint PCS, has instructed sales personnel to recommend to
customers to use portable hands-free headsets and vehicle adapters to
minimize any health risk and to promote safer driving.
"We also recommend that parents who are buying for a child or young
adult consider a wireless messaging unit vs. a wireless phone due to
potential health risks as described by the national media and industry
research," stated Metrocall in a Jan. 3 health and safety bulletin.
Metrocall, based in Alexandria, Va., is 30-percent owned by AT&T Corp.,
the nation's largest mobile phone operator.
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Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com