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Zurich
Says It Won't Pay For Cell Phone Brain-Cancer Lawsuits
insure.com
Journalist: Heather Williams
August 17, 2001
Insurers
and cell phone companies are scrambling for cover under the fire of
lawsuits claiming that the high-frequency radiation emanating from cell
phones harms their users.
The
cell phone companies think they should be covered by liability insurance
policies, but insurers disagree. Zurich-American Insurance Co. filed two
requests, one in New York and one in Texas, that the court absolve it from
the responsibility of paying for cell phone-related class action lawsuits.
According
to Mealey's Litigation Report, Zurich commercial liability policies that
insured Audiovox Corp. in 1998 and 1999 contain exclusions for lawsuits
relating to injuries and product defects, which the insurer says exempt it
from paying for any damages or legal fees related to the cell phone
lawsuits.
And
in six different liability policies Zurich sold to Nokia Inc., exclusions
pertaining to the company's product mean that Zurich is not responsible
for any costs incurred when the company defends itself against lawsuits or
is required to pay damages.
Zurich
also wants to make sure the cell phone companies' other insurers pay their
fair share if the court decides that Zurich must pay up.
Zurich
was not available for comment on the litigation.
In
April 2001, class action lawsuits over cell phone risks were filed in
Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. The lawsuits seek to have every cell
phone user provided with a hands-6.00 headset, which allows users to talk
without holding the handset, allegedly a source of cancer-causing
radiation, up to their heads.
Cell
phone manufacturers have denied any link among cell phones, radiation, and
health problems.
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