'Oy Guv'ner, Cell Phones Bad

A letter published in the British Medical Journal recently suggests an increased risk of internal injuries when struck by lightning while carrying a cell phone. This is, of course, the usual alarmist pablium coming from british doctors concerned about the use of "tek-nah-luh-gee". The doctors' evidence is one patient and three newspaper stories about lightning and cell phones. Here's a lightning expert's response to the letter:

Vladimir Rakov, a lightning expert at the University of Florida, chuckled when he heard about the letter. He says the mechanism outlined by the doctors sounds unrealistic. "I don’t think having a cell phone in your pocket can change the outcome of a lightning strike," Rakov told LiveScience. Better advice, Rakov said, would be: "Don't remain outdoors during a thunderstorm, whether you carry a cell phone or not."

Oh yeah, using three newspaper stories as the basis for an epidimiological warning. Yeesh! The Livescience.com article sums it up best right here: "The letter in the journal, however, is not backed by the sort of scientific rigor that goes into many published papers."