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Pursuing The EMF Issues

2026-08-21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Health New Zealand OIA Team,

I am writing under the Official Information Act 1982 concerning the attached Clinical Management Summary issued following my presentations to the Emergency Department first at 1:44 am on 21/09/2024 and during October 2024

I attended the hospital on three occasions because I was experiencing significant physical symptoms, including burning sensations, temperature dysregulation, brain fog, tinnitus, fatigue, loss and inability to maintain weight, and other symptoms which I noticed with exposure to electromagnetic fields and LED lighting environments.

Since that time, I have managed to substantially reduce the impact of the condition through changes to my environment and behavior. In particular, I live as far as reasonably possible from smart meters and other significant EMF sources, avoid or limit exposure to commercial LED lighting, and limit the time I spend in environments in which I experience symptoms.

I am generally able to carry and use a mobile telephone and can remain in many ordinary RF/EMF environments for periods of time. However, I experience a much more pronounced reaction in environments which appear to involve power-grid-related electromagnetic fields and strong commercial LED lighting. When this occurs, I need to limit my exposure and then allow time to recover.

I remain concerned because I observe similar combinations of symptoms in a number of other people. I have also previously raised concerns about the apparent overlap between the symptoms I experience and symptoms commonly described under the term Long COVID.

The attached Clinical Management Summary records, among other things, that:

  • my temperature was 35.4°C;
  • my blood pressure was 165/95;
  • I reported burning skin, brain fog and tinnitus;
  • I believed EMF exposure was contributing to my illness;
  • clinicians relied upon a position attributed to the World Health Organisation concerning electromagnetic hypersensitivity and the lack of a demonstrated causal relationship between EMF exposure and the symptoms described;
  • psychological evaluation was suggested.

My experience of those consultations had a profound effect on my willingness to seek medical care. Following the assessment recorded in the attached summary, I lost confidence that clinicians understood the condition I was reporting or were willing to investigate the physical symptoms independently of their view about EMF causation.

The practical consequence is serious. I am now concerned that if I become acutely unwell in the future, I may be reluctant or unable to remain within a hospital environment for prolonged periods because hospitals themselves contain extensive LED lighting, electrical equipment, wireless communications systems and other sources of electromagnetic fields which I experience as detrimental to my health.

I therefore request the following information held by Health New Zealand:

  1. All clinical guidance, policies, protocols, procedures, training material or internal advice in force at the time of my presentations concerning patients reporting electromagnetic hypersensitivity, EMF-related illness, radiofrequency exposure or symptoms attributed to electromagnetic fields.
  2. All WHO publications, systematic reviews, scientific papers, guidance documents or other evidential material relied upon by Health New Zealand or its clinicians when assessing patients reporting such symptoms.
  3. The evidential material supporting the statement or clinical position recorded in my summary that there is no scientific basis linking EHS symptoms to EMF exposure.
  4. Any guidance provided to clinicians concerning whether symptoms reported by patients in this context should be considered psychological, psychosomatic, medically unexplained, or otherwise referred for psychological evaluation.
  5. Any Health New Zealand or Ministry of Health assessments concerning possible health effects of chronic exposure to RF/EMF from mobile telecommunications, smart meters, electrical infrastructure, Wi-Fi or other wireless systems.
  6. Any assessments or guidance concerning possible health effects associated with commercial LED lighting, including flicker, spectral characteristics, electromagnetic emissions from LED drivers, or symptoms reported by light-sensitive patients.
  7. Any policies or guidance concerning accommodation of patients who report sensitivity to RF/EMF or LED lighting while receiving treatment within Health New Zealand facilities.
  8. Any research, occupational-health assessments, incident reports or staff guidance concerning exposure of Health New Zealand employees to RF/EMF or high-intensity LED lighting within hospital environments.
  9. Any correspondence between Health New Zealand, the Ministry of Health, WHO, ICNIRP or other national or international bodies concerning electromagnetic hypersensitivity or the clinical management of people reporting symptoms associated with EMF exposure.
  10. Please identify the specific WHO document or documents which Health New Zealand considers applicable to the clinical assessment recorded in the attached summary.

Where material is withheld, please identify the statutory grounds relied upon for withholding it.

I am not asking Health New Zealand at this stage to accept my explanation for the cause of my condition. I am asking to understand precisely what evidence and clinical guidance were relied upon when my physical symptoms were assessed and when the conclusions recorded in the attached Clinical Management Summary were reached.

Given the consequences that this experience has had for my willingness and ability to seek medical care, I would appreciate a complete response.

Yours faithfully,

Ian Stephenson



https://www.healthnz.govt.nz/contact-us/official-information-act-requests





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