Lawsuit: Man Claims iPod Causes Hearing Loss

[GrnMarvl14]

Lawsuit: iPods may cause ... eh?
Man claims decibel levels, earphones contribute to hearing loss

Thursday, February 2, 2006; Posted: 2:26 p.m. EST (19:26 GMT)

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A Louisiana man claims in a lawsuit that Apple's iPod music player can cause hearing loss in people who use it.

Apple has sold more than 42 million of the devices since they went on sale in 2001, including 14 million in the fourth quarter last year. The devices can produce sounds of more than 115 decibels, a volume that can damage the hearing of a person exposed to the sound for more than 28 seconds per day, according to the complaint.

The iPod players are "inherently defective in design and are not sufficiently adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss," according to the complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, on behalf of John Kiel Patterson, of Louisiana.

The suit, which Patterson wants certified as a class-action, seeks compensation for unspecified damages and upgrades that will make iPods safer. Patterson's suit said he bought an iPod last year, but does not specify whether he suffered hearing loss from the device.

Patterson does not know if the device has damaged his hearing, said his attorney, Steve W. Berman, of Seattle. But that's beside the point of the lawsuit, which takes issue with the potential the iPod has to cause irreparable hearing loss, Berman said.

"He's bought a product which is not safe to use as currently sold on the market," Berman said. "He's paying for a product that's defective, and the law is pretty clear that if someone sold you a defective product they have a duty to repair it."

An Apple Computer Inc. spokeswoman, Kristin Huguet, declined to comment.

Although the iPod is more popular than other types of portable music players, its ability to cause noise-induced hearing problems isn't any higher, experts said.

"We have numerous products in the marketplace that have the potential to damage hearing," said Deanna Meinke, an audiology professor at the University of Northern Colorado. "The risk is there, but the risk lies with the user and where they set the volume."

The Cupertino, California-based company ships a warning with each iPod that cautions "permanent hearing loss may occur if earphones or headphones are used at high volume."

Apple was forced to pull the iPod from store shelves in France and upgrade software on the device to limit sound to 100 decibels, but has not followed suit in the United States, according to the complaint.

The headphones commonly referred to as ear buds, which ship with the iPod, also contribute to noise-induced hearing loss because they do not dilute the sound entering the ear and are closer to the ear canal than other sound sources, the complaint states.

It's always nice to feel smarter than someone else. So...discuss the insanity.

 

[Barb]

If the woman who sued McDonald's because hot coffee burned her as she carried it in her lap is still single, then he should hook up with her.

I have to wonder why judges don't simply throw these cases right out of court and impose fines for wasting the court's time. This isn't about a defective product, it's a defective user.

 

[Strawberry Delcatty]

Apple has sold more than 42 million of the devices since they went on sale in 2001, including 14 million in the fourth quarter last year. The devices can produce sounds of more than 115 decibels, a volume that can damage the hearing of a person exposed to the sound for more than 28 seconds per day, according to the complaint.

I stopped reading after that paragraph.

If that was the case, my parents and I would've lost our hearing a LONG time ago.

That guy obviously have a beef against Apple.

 

[Doctor Oak]

This just in:

Coke damages your teeth. Shocker!

Burgers make you fat: OMG!

Coffee causes sleep loss: DEAR GOD NO.

Oh, and:

Morons cause headaches.

 

[Transfinite]

If the woman who sued McDonald's because hot coffee burned her as she carried it in her lap is still single, then he should hook up with her.

Sigh.

Coffee is supposed to be hot.

Coffee is not supposed to cause third-degree burns.

 

[Dogasu]

Did anyone else see the Colbert Report last night where he basically pointed out that the instruction manual for the I-Pod warns against hearing loss?

 

[GrnMarvl14]

Yeah. That's actually going to be the biggest defense against this case. I wouldn't be surprised if it was thrown out before even reaching a courtroom. It's not like the temperature of a drink, you CAN control how high the volume is, so to claim it causes hearing loss is like purposely cutting yourself with a knife and suing the knife company for making it so sharp. Or shooting yourself on purpose and suing the gun company for...whatever idiotic reason.