Takeaway: Recovery statutes like the federal Black Lung Benefits Act often permit the award of benefits even when the scientific evidence of causation is debatable. A 2001 regulation expanded the legal definition of black lung, or pneumoconiosis, to cover both restrictive lung diseases (preventing full inhalation) and obstructive lung diseases (preventing full exhalation) based on studies showing that coal mining may cause both types of conditions.
An appeals court decision recently upheld an award of survivor’s benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act to the widow of a coal mine worker who had been a smoker.
The claimant developed an obstructive lung disease after smoking and working in coal mines. He was born in 1960, lived in Eastern Kentucky, and married his wife in 1981. He started smoking when he was 18 and averaged around a pack a day for most of his life. Having quit school after the eighth grade, the claimant worked on and off in coal mines between 1979 and 1995. After his retirement, the claimant struggled to breathe.
The claimant spent most of his coal mining career underground using a cutting machine to extract coal at the face of the mines. This job regularly required him to work in the dustiest areas. He filed his first application for federal black lung benefits in 1998. An administrator denied this claim because he failed to prove that he had pneumoconiosis. The claimant did not appeal.
In 2001, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) expanded its definition of...
Turkish base fake news in Armenia For several days, a video has been circulating on social media claiming that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan allegedly signed a “secret agreement” with EU ...