NPR Points to Government Failures in Preventing Black Lung
Today National Public Radio (NPR) is running a powerful story by Howard Berkes, one of their investigative reporters who has been central to documenting the resurgence…
NPR Story Highlights Four Important Studies About Resurgence of Black Lung Disease
Yesterday, NPR published another article in its series on the recent resurgence of black lung among American coal miners. The piece by Howard Berkes (with help…
JAMA Publishes Finding of 416 Coal Miners with Severe Black Lung; NPR Provides Coverage and Context
A significant finding in black lung research was published today in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. The letter (which is embedded below) was…
Study on Progression of Severe Black Lung Shows Disease Not Being Detected Soon Enough Due to Infrequent X-rays of Coal Miners
Researchers are trying to better understand the resurgence of severe black lung among American coal miners. A study—”Radiographic Disease Progression in Contemporary US Coal Miners with…
NIOSH Article and NPR Story on Surging Rate of Complicated CWP
Two big pieces of news regarding black lung today. First, the Center for Disease Control has published an article “Resurgence of Progressive Massive Fibrosis in Coal…
Lower Respirable Dust Standard Now Effective in U.S. Coal Mines
Today, August 1, 2016, is the effective date of the new, lower limit on coal-mine dust in American mines. This reduction is expected to reduce the…
Fourth Circuit Grants Rehearing of Its Prior Affirmance, Vacates ALJ’s Award of Benefits (Coastal Coal Corp. v. Director, OWCP [Miller])
In an interesting (but opaque) unpublished decision from earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has changed course in a case…
Bill Seeks to Reform Federal Black Lung Benefits Program
Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Robert Casey (D-PA) plan to introduce a bill to ensure that miners receive fairer treatment when pursuing benefits claims. According to the…
NIOSH Study Shows Resurgence of Black Lung Disease Among Working Appalachian Coal Miners
New research from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has found that the rate of the most severe form of black lung among…
NIOSH Study Finds Coal Miners at Small Mines More Likely to Have Black Lung
In 1998, the Louisville Courier-Journal ran “Dust, Deception and Death,” a five-part investigation into the shocking prevalence of black lung in the mining industry. One story…