Scientist wins compensation after WiFi made him sick

[concernie]

CSIRO scientist Dr David McDonald wins compensation for Wi-Fi pain

Dr David McDonald, a mathematician who worked as a principal research scientist at the CSIRO for 15 years, has moved to the Victorian countryside to avoid electromagnetic radiation.

He wears custom-made clothing fashioned from metallic cloth, has screened his house with metal shields and even sleeps in a special tent to screen out Wi-Fi transmissions in hotels.

“When I go into a building with Wi-Fi I feel extremely ill,’’ he said yesterday.

“I get a very strong headache and the left hand side of my head feels numb.

“After ceasing that exposure, the symptoms disappear.’’

In a case that could set a precedent for workers’ compensation cases, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has ruled that the federal government’s insurer, Comcare, should compensate Dr McDonald for “aggravation of a condition of nausea, disorientation and headaches’’.

The judgement states that Dr McDonald told the CSIRO selection panel during his job interview that he suffered from sensitivity to electromagnetic frequencies — or EMF — emitted by computers, TVs, mobile phones, microwave ovens, power lines and transformers.

The CSIRO agreed to give him an assistant, so he could write programs on paper and have someone else punch the code into a computer.

But in 2005 it withdrew the administrative support and ordered Dr McDonald to trial working with a BlackBerry phone, an electronic projector and a desktop computer enclosed in a “Faraday cage’’ to block electrical fields.

“Dr McDonald became ill within minutes each time his computer was switched on,’’ the judgement states.

“He experienced nausea and headaches and suffered severe migraine 2-12 hours later.

“He felt unwell for several days after each attack.’’

Dr McDonald was allowed to work from home for six months — but when he tried returning to his Melbourne office in 2009 he “became too ill to continue’’ and took sick leave.

In May 2011 the CSIRO told Dr McDonald that it was “not medically possible for him to perform the requirements of his position’’.

AAT deputy president James Constance ruled that on the basis of the evidence of Dr McDonald, doctors and medical specialists, “I am satisfied that the migraines which immediately followed exposure to EMF were contributed to, to a significant degree, by Dr McDonald’s employment by the CSIRO’’.

The AAT ruling means he will continue to be paid 75 per cent of his salary, as compensation for his illness.

Dr McDonald said he felt schools should hardwire computers instead of using Wi-Fi.

“I fear for children who don’t know why they can’t concentrate, or why they feel nauseous,’’ he said.

“And cabling in the internet is much faster and more efficient than using Wi-Fi.’’

A Melbourne teacher with 30 years’ experience, Maureen Kirsch, quit supply teaching in 2011 because she felt Wi-Fi was giving her blinding headaches.

“There were schools I’d been going to for 10 or 15 years and never had a problem, then I started having problems with their Wi-Fi,’’ she said yesterday.

“I’d noticed that 17 laptops would go on and I couldn’t stand in the classroom.

“I felt like my head was going to explode, I came home with blurred vision and I couldn’t think straight.

“It happened continually and repeatedly until I was so ill I gave up.’’

Ms Kirsch said she first suffered symptoms when an electricity smart meter was installed in her home, and has since moved house.

Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton yesterday said electromagnetic sensitivity was not recognised as an illness.

He said there was “no known mechanism’’ for Wi-Fi to damage DNA.

Article Source: http://www.news.com.au/technology/csiro ... 6729178281

[GordonH]

Well, I guess doctors of Kelowna should be getting a larger number of similar patients since Shaw install WiFi zones all over Kelowna. In addition most restaurants & shopping area's have free WiFi as well.

[concernie]

Well, I guess doctors of Kelowna should be getting a larger number of similar patients since Shaw install WiFi zones all over Kelowna. In addition most restaurants & shopping area's have free WiFi as well.

Electro-hypersensitivty is on the rise globally. And this shouldn't be a surprise considering the greatly increasing use of wireless technology. The trajectory of public awareness of microwave sickness is on a similar path to cigarettes. We are still 10 years away from any significant public backlash in North America.Like in the 1950s, the general population still believes cigarette smoking (WiFi) is not harmful to human health. Fortunately, the backlash has already begun in Europe.

[LordEd]

Did you READ THE CASE DECISION?

No, of course not. Only the headline.

On the basis of Dr Hocking’s evidence I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Dr McDonald has suffered either:

an aggravation of his sensitivity to EMF; or,
an aggravation of his symptoms by reason of his honest belief that he suffers from the condition of EMF sensitivity and that his exposure to EMF associated with the trials has worsened his sensitivity.

For the purposes of this application it does not matter which of the alternatives is in fact the correct diagnosis. Both conditions are aggravations of an ailment and the evidence establishes that whichever is the correct diagnosis, it was contributed to, to a significant degree by Dr McDonald's employment by CSIRO.

Of note, he did NOT undergo testing to determine which was the case. For purposes of the case it was not relevent.

[LordEd]

So for clarity, the headline should read "Scientist wins compensation after getting sick at work".

[Nebula]

There have been numerous studies related to so-called emf sensitivity. The overall result in these blind studies is that sufferers were not able to tell whether they were being subjected to emf or not. The symptoms are real but the cause is not emf. I suspect it's IIH... Internet Induced Hysteria.

[LoneWolf_53]

There have been numerous studies related to so-called emf sensitivity. The overall result in these blind studies is that sufferers were not able to tell whether they were being aspirated to emf or not. The symptoms are real but the cause is not emf. I suspect it's IIH... Internet Induced Hysteria.

So why pray tell does the internet not bother him when it's hard wired?

[Nebula]

So why pray tell does the internet not bother him when it's hard wired?

He knows it's hardwired.

[LoneWolf_53]

Yeah well I'm of the mind that there's far more about wireless and it's effect on humans that we don't know, than there is that which we do conclusively.

[WhatThe]

Psychosomatic, thinks its real so the body responds. regardless of where he is,save in the tent, he is being continually bathed in EMR. Lol, those hundreds of satellites up there must be laser pin pointing to every home, computer and mobile device on earth.

[Dizzy1]

Wouldn't suprise me if this individual experienced the same "symptoms" if he saw a bunch of electronic devices being used with no Wi Fi even enabled or set up .... ah the power of suggestion, it can be a powerful thing.

Same thing some people were claiming when cell phones first came out, when TV first came out, when radio first came out, etc.