A California doctor with a Newton lawyer yesterday sued Apple and AT&T in Boston for [pinky up] FIVE MILLION DOLLARS because of the alleged fraud they committed by shipping iPhones that, in certain circumstances, depending on how one holds them, can lead to reduced reception.

In his class-action lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Boston, Dr. Thomas Gionis says he is an emergency-room physician and that the problem is so bad he is now forced to carry two phones to make sure nobody dies because he is unreachable. Gionis acknowledges that when he called an Apple store, he was told a rubber bumper would fix the problem, but that that's not enough to assuage the problems he has; that he and other iPhone 4 users have been "injured and damaged," and that he, for one, would never have bought an iPhone 4 if he knew what a piece of crap it is.

Gionis says he bought his phone June 24 at the South Coast Plaza Apple Store in Costa Mesa, CA. He says he filed suit on behalf of all iPhone 4 users.

Complete complaint.