Man Blames Brain Cancer on Cell Phones

WASHINGTON - A California Realtor claims that decades of cell phone-use gave him brain cancer, and that the cellular industry altered scientific studies of the dangers of cell phones to make them more "market friendly."

Alan Marks, a father of three from Lafayette, Calif., claims the top firms in the cellular industry conspired to cover up and spin decades of science about the "adverse biological effects" of heavy exposure to "radio frequency radiation."

Citing studies going back to the 1960s, Marks' Superior Court lawsuit claims that radio frequency radiation "penetrates" the head during cell phone use and can cause brain cancer.

Marks and his wife, Ellen, seek more than $100 million in damages.

Marks says he was an early adopter of cell phones, and started using the old Motorola bag cell phone in 1989.

In 2008, doctors found a malignant tumor in his frontal lobe. He underwent a successful craniotomy, but Marks says he will be "plagued" by the effects of the cancer for the rest of his life.

In his 69-page complaint, Marks accuses Sprint, AT&T, Cellular One, Pacific Bell Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Motorola, Nokia and several industry groups of conspiring "to alter the results of studies to make them more 'market friendly,' and act[ing] to conceal and suppress information from the public."

Marks claims that scientists who published findings confirming the dangers of radio frequency radiation and cell phone use "lost their funding, were fired, found their reputation damaged, and had their work denigrated" by the defendant companies and industry groups.

Marks, 58, also sued the Telecommunications Industry Association, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the American National Standards Institute and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association. He seeks damages for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, liability, breach of implied warranty, civil battery, violations of the Consumer Protection Act and other charges.

He is represented by Jeffrey Morganroth of Birmingham, Mich.

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