Group Warns of Safety Risks from Cell Phones in Hospitals
A nonprofit health services research agency continues to recommend against lifting cell-phone restrictions completely in health care settings. Many hospitals have questioned whether restrictions are necessary, based on media reports implying that cell-phone use does not create enough electromagnetic interference (EMI) to threaten the performance of medical equipment...
By CleanLink Editorial Staff
A nonprofit health services research agency continues to recommend against lifting cell-phone restrictions completely in health care settings. Many hospitals have questioned whether restrictions are necessary, based on media reports implying that cell-phone use does not create enough electromagnetic interference (EMI) to threaten the performance of medical equipment.
The organization, ECRI, says it examined available evidence and published its perspectives on ways in which the media reports may be misleading. Some news articles have suggested that newer cell phones do not produce significant EMI and that improvements to medical devices have reduced risks to the point where use restrictions are not necessary.
"However, there is published evidence demonstrating that while risks may have diminished somewhat, they have not disappeared entirely, and well-documented cases of cell phones affecting medical equipment do exist," according to ECRI.
The group says its examination of several published studies, along with incidents reported by health care facilities, reveals that EMI from cell phones does still pose a risk to medical devices. ECRI recommends a balance between the risk of cell phone use and the potential benefits.
For more information: contact ECRI at (610) 825-6000 extension 5891 or visit
www.ecri.org .
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