Court Ruling Highlights Another Ministry Of Health Failure

The Ministry of Health (M.O.H.) may have more tricky questions to answer following a landmark court ruling in the USA which should concern anyone who uses wireless technology such as cell phones, iPads, iWatches and laptop computers.

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s decision not to amend safety guidelines for radiation from wireless devices and networks was capricious, arbitrary and not evidence-based. New Zealand’s safety guidelines are very similar to those adopted in the U.S. and our Ministry of Health has also deemed it unnecessary to amend safety guidelines significantly for several decades, despite mounting evidence of harm at exposure levels well within current safety limits.

The M.O.H. has been under scrutiny recently after several high-profile failings including the slow adoption of saliva testing for COVID-19 and Ashley Bloomfield’s misleading information to Parliament. Now the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals raises questions about the M.O.H.’s refusal to amend radiation safety guidelines to be more protective of the New Zealand public.

In New Zealand, the Interagency Committee for Health Effects of Non-Ionising Radiation provides advice to the Ministry of Health on the safety of public exposure to radiation from wireless devices. A complaint was recently forwarded to Ashley Bloomfield about this committee citing potential Conflicts of Interest, insufficient medical expertise and an overload of industry representation.

Michael Fleck, spokesperson for Waiheke Action for Ethical Technology (WAET) says “we do not believe that this committee is ‘fit for purpose’ but the Ministry of Health simply defends the ‘status quo’.”

The ruling against the FCC was made after the Court had viewed 11,000 pages of evidence showing harm at exposure levels well below the existing limits in New Zealand and the U.S.

© Scoop Media