In what has been described as a landmark case by AFP, an Italian court has ruled that work-related use of a mobile phone caused an executive to develop a brain tumour.
The ruling was made public today, in which the plaintiff was awarded a state-funded pension.
AFP stated that the ruling is subject to a possible appeal.
57-year-old Roberto Romeo stated that his work required him to use his mobile phone for “three to four hours” each working day for 15 years.
This is the first time in the world that a court has recognised a link between mobile phone use and a brain tumour, stated the report.
“I believe we have to be more aware about how to use [mobile phones],” said Romeo.
He said his right ear started to feel “blocked all the time”, after which he was diagnosed with a tumour in 2010.
“Happily, it was benign but I can no longer hear anything because they had to remove my acoustic nerve.”
Industry experts and academics have long disputed statements which allege that cellphone usage causes or heightens the risk of cancer in people.
“The scientific consensus is strong, and is that there is no substantiated evidence that the low levels of radiofrequency emissions encountered by mobile telecommunications can cause any harm,” stated Professor Rodney Croft – the Director of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia’s Centre for Research Excellence in Electromagnetic Energy – in 2016.
Note:
In 2012 the Italian Supreme Court also ruled that there was a causal link between heavy mobile phone use by businessman Innocente Marcolini and the development of a brain tumor that left his face partially paralyzed.
And in 2015 (shortly before his death), US Attorney Jimmy Gonzalez testified that his three brain tumours had also been caused by mobile use.