Answer to Question #3730 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

As an engineer in the Telcom industry with many family members in the health-care field, I am constantly asked the same question and I'm not sure if I have a valid answer. They want to know if cell phone use in and around a hospital is safe. I know there has been research done to show that a cell phone that is within very close proximity to medical devices can cause interference. The Federal Communications Commission has advised that the makers of these medical devices shield the equipment from such interference. Is there any new research to show that cell phones can be used inside a hospital? We all see many people wandering the hospitals, including doctors, using their cell phones.

The issue of banning mobile phone use in hospitals is a subject of some controversy. For a snapshot of the controversy it is useful to look at an article that was published in March 2003 in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 326:460, March 2003). The authors concluded:"Mobile phones in hospitals are not as hazardous as believed and should be allowed at least in nonclinical areas."

At least as interesting as the article itself are the online responses to the article. This is what we know:

1. Mobile phones can interfere with medical equipment.
    
2. The interference is relatively rare and generally goes away when the phone is turned off or moved away.
    
3. There appear to be no confirmed reports of life-threatening interference.
    
4. The two-way radios used by emergency-service personnel and hospital transport aides (porters) are a bigger source of interference than consumer mobile phones.
    
5. Other sources of radiofrequency (RF) radiation (for example, digital TV broadcasts and other medical equipment) have also caused interference with medical devices.
    
6. Many (most?) hospitals ban mobile phones, but the basis for their bans are generally vague, and the bans are often very poorly enforced on visitors or on staff.

I am unaware of any general governmental bans on the use of mobile phones in hospitals. In the United States, this would fall under the jurisdiction of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health of the Food and Drug Adminstration and to date the Food and Drug Administration has not taken a position on the subject.

The bottom line is that interference with medical equipment by devices that produce RF radiation is an issue for hospitals and medical-equipment makers, but the source of the problem is not limited to mobile phones.

John Moulder, PhD